Singing This Song For You
by cara-jordan
Summary: Miley Cyrus and Nick Jonas thought their lives were perfect just the way they were...until they met each other and realized they could really have something great. Follows Nick and Miley from mid 2006 until now and maybe the future : Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

Okay, this is my first fanfic that I've published because I've been collecting a lot of ideas (and information). I just want to say that most of the dates in here are pretty accurate, although some of them I made up with in the time frame I was given. I hope you guys like it! Please review, I'd really like the feedback and I'll need 3 to continue. Thanks!

September 7, 2006

"I've got a way of knowing when something is right, I feel like I must have known you in another life. Cause I felt this deep connection when you looked in my eyes.  
Now I can't wait to see you again," came a sweet voice from inside the room with the door covered with posters of Ashlee Simpson, Hilary Duff, and Fall Out Boy.

"Knock, knock," said a voice from the outside.

"Hey Brandi, come on in," her sister said.

"You need some harmonies?" Brandi asked.

"I guess," she drifted off.

"What's wrong, Miles?" asked her big sister as she walked over to Miley's bed.

"Nothing," Miley hurriedly said.

"Doesn't sound like nothing," Brandi retorted.

"Fine, it's just that I'm singing this song about how I can't _wait _to see someone again, but I haven't felt that way with anyone since Brad. And I can't write a song about him," Miley spilled out.

"Why not?" Brandi sort of chuckled.

"This isn't funny. And he's too depressing for me to write about. It's like, I've got this who scene in my head about how it would be if I met someone like this, you know? Instead of writing about something that happened to me, I'm writing about something that I've made up in my head! Brandi, I don't think that's normal!" she screamed.

"Of course it's normal, Miley. There's nothing wrong with writing about something you want to happen."

"I guess. I just wish I could meet somebody. I love my family and all, but sometimes I want a boy!" whined the teen pop sensation.

"It'll happen, I promise. Now come on, let's work on this song. What do you have so far?" her sister asked.

"A verse," Miley laughed.

"Well, let's fix that and surprise your dad with a new song," said Brandi, picking up her guitar. "Where do you want to start?"

"Let's go for a first verse, huh?" Miley joked as she was getting her guitar as well.

"Sing the other verse again for me?" Brandi asked as she was warming up her fingers. Miley sang and Brandi got a great idea.

"The last time I freaked out, I just kept looking down," Brandi sang with a guitar melody.

"I st-st-stuttered when you asked me what I'm thinking about," Miley sang back at her sister.

"That's cute."

"Hey! I thought so!" Miley retaliated and threw a pick at Brandi. Before long the throwing of picks had escalated to pillows and one that Brandi ducked from hit Billy Ray right in the face as he stood in the doorway.

"Sorry Daddy!" Miley half-laughed while trying to look really sorry.

"I'm sure you are. I heard music and I wanted to see how things were going up here," her father said.

"Things are good. I'm helping her with a new song," Brandi said, picking up some of the pillows and putting them back on Miley's bed.

"Things are good," his daughter with the tapping foot said impatiently.

"You want me to leave?" he asked, looking hurt and grabbing his heart.

"Oh, please, Dad. We were having a moment here," she looked at Brandi and almost started laughing again.

"Is that what you guys are calling it now-a-days? That's fine. Dinner's gonna be ready in about an hour. Try to work on the song, though?" he said, backing out of the doorway.

"Yeah, we will," said Miley, walking to the door to shut it. Billy Ray walked away and as Miley shut the door and turned back around Brandi threw another pillow at her head. "HEY!"

"Hey yourself. Come on now, let's work on this," Brandi said as she pulled out Miley's notebook from her desk drawer.

"Do you know where everything is in my room?" Miley questioned with her hands on her hips.

"It was a good guess. You are my sister and we share more than just round faces and full lips, Miles. That's where mine is."

"Gotcha! Now I know where yours is!"

"Nice try. My drawers happen to lock, though," Brandi rolled her eyes.

"You would," Miley joked with an evil look on her face. She sat on her bed, guitar in her arms and she just couldn't play. She fell backwards onto her bed and just lied there. Brandi set hers down and came to lay next to Miley. A tear rolled down her cheek as she looked at her sister.

"What's wrong, Smiley?" Brandi joked as she wiped the tear from Miley's face.

"I'm just really lucky to have all of this. I'm not even 14 yet and I have so much. Sometimes I feel like I don't deserve it," she said in a hoarse voice.

"You deserve everything good that happens to you, Miley. You are amazing."

"You're not so bad yourself," Miley choked out a small giggle.

---------

September 18, 2006

"You left without a single word, not even sorry. It might've hurt worse to hear you say, 'I'm leaving, goodbye.' But your smile still makes my heart sing, another sad song. I can't forget it, I won't regret it; cause I'm still in love with you," the lead singer belted out, and then stopped as the music continued.

"Now what," spouted his older brother.

"I don't think we should have written this song," said Joe.

"Come on Joe, it's a great song. This is what we do, we put ourselves out there and people love us for it," said his younger brother.

"Oh, little Nicky, you wouldn't understand," said Joe.

"Don't go all 'big brother' with him, Joe. Just sing the song," said Kevin.

"I need a break," said Joe.

"Fine. We probably need a break anyway," Nick said putting his guitar down. Joe walked out of the room and Kevin and Nick sat on Nick's bed. The usually practiced in Nick and Joe's room, since it was a little bigger than Kevin's since two of them shared.

"I don't understand. We've written stuff all the time about personal things. Why does this one bother him so much?" Nick asked his oldest brother.

"Let's see, it's call "Still in Love With You," and he's obviously not over Nina because he still calls her everyday. That'd probably be why," Kevin said.

"I guess. He really needs to suck it up though. I feel for him, but we can't keep stopping practice every time Joe gets emotional," Nick said.

"He does get like this a lot. Sometimes I really want to just hit him and say--" Kevin stopped speaking as he was interrupted.

"What did you want to say to me?" Joe asked, standing in the doorway.

"I just wish you weren't all moody all the time. It's like having a freaking sister sometimes!" Kevin said.

"A sister, huh? That's what you think of me. Nice," Joe replied as he lunged for Kevin. Kevin dodged Joe's body being flown at him, but Joe did hit a target, his younger brother. Nick lied beneath Joe trying to catch his breath but he couldn't until he finally pushed Joe off of him.

"Nick, you are really getting strong, you know that?" Joe said.

"I have to be just in case of situations like that, where my fat brother lands on top of me and I'm suffocating," Nick replied while standing up and smoothing out his shirt.

"Are you two done? We need to finish up and get to the studio. We need to be there in 2 hours," Kevin said.

"Thanks 'Momager'" Joe retorted as he sat down on his bed.

"I'm going to order some Chinese, you guys want anything?" asked Kevin as he started to walk out of the room.

"No, I'm okay, but thanks," said Nick, laying down on his bed and pulling out a book. "I'm going to read until we need to leave.

"I'll just eat yours," said Joe.

"Gee, thanks," Kevin shouted as he walked down the hall and to his room to call from his phone. Joe turned on the TV and turned it up. Nick looked annoyed but tried to ignore it, until Joe put on the Disney channel and got up and started singing the new Hannah Montana song.

"Chilling out, take it slow, then you rock out the show, you get the BEST--"

"Joe, do you mind?" Nick asked, not even looking at his brother.

"No, not at all, you can read your book, it's not going to bother me."

"I'm serious. Turn it down, please."

"You're always so polite. Who raised you?" said Joe, turning down the TV a little.

"Apparently not a pack of wolves like the ones that raised you," Nick said, chuckling to himself.

"Nice one. Low blow. Clever. Original. Smart--" Joe rambled off.

"That's enough," Nick interrupted.

"I don't get it. She's so hott," Joe said, looking at the TV again.

"Who?"

"Hannah Montana, bro! Look at her," his brother said in a trance, mesmerized by the television screen.

"I guess. I like her brown hair better, though. The real deal, ya know?" Nick replied.

"Not me. Blondes are definitely my thing."

"To each his own," Nick said, going back to his book.

"I bet we get to meet her soon," Joe started again, unaware that Nick had started reading.

"Okay…" Nick replied, not paying much attention.

"You don't want to?" Joe asked, a shocked expression on his face.

"I'm not opposed to it, but I'm not going to stalk her or anything like you would," Nick joked.

"I wouldn't stalk her," Joe said, in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Oh no?" Nick asked, still not looking up from his book.

"Nope, I'd have someone do it for me," Joe said, turning back to the TV and turning up the volume again.

Nick just rolled his eyes and tried to ignore it, but that laugh, and not the one coming from his obnoxious older brother, but the one coming from the beauty on the screen, was the cutest thing he'd ever heard in his life.


	2. Chapter 2

Thanks for the reviews guys!…I'd love more of them, though! Here's chapter 2, although I'm not sure if I'll be able to put up all the chapters this quickly!

October 27, 2006

"Daddy, do I have to go?"

"Yes, Miley. You wanted this, remember? You wanted to be the big Disney star, and now you have to go and see people," said Billy Ray.

"Fine," Miley said to her dad. "I'll call you back later Les," she said into the phone and hung up.

"I thought you wanted to go," said Billy Ray.

"I do, but she was in the middle of a really good story, Daddy," pouted Miley.

"She can finish it later, you've gotta get your hair done," her father informed her.

"I know, I know, let's go," Miley said, walking out the door to the car with Billy Ray on her heels.

----------

"Okay boys, just one more shot in this scene and then we can take a break," said Charlie, the video producer.

"Yeah, let's do this! 1, 2, 3, 4!" started one of them and the boys went into the second chorus of their new song. "He took me, to the future, in the flux thing, and I saw everything. Boy bands, and another one, and another one ... and another one! Girls there, with round hair, like Star Wars, float above the floor."

Miley and her dad walked in during the middle of filming onto a set that was mostly white, with girls in pink hair and some really cute boys playing guitar and singing. She assumed that these were the Jonas Brothers, the group that she came here to meet. They were a lot better looking than anyone at the studio had led on, and she was starting to regret not wanting to get here sooner!

"Alright boys, take a break. I do believe someone is here to see you," Charlie shouted, nodding over to Billy Ray and Miley. All three boys walked over to the father and daughter and introduced themselves.

"Hey, I'm Kevin," the eldest brother said first, shaking both Miley and Billy Ray's hands.

"And I'm Nick," said the younger one, after a pause of waiting for Joe to take his turn in the age line. Joe was just standing there, getting nervous as hell and trying to 'fix' his hair.

"Hey, I'm Miley!" she said finally, putting her hand out for him to grab.

"Oh, umm, I know who you are. You're Hannah Montana," he said, finally snapping out of the trance he was in.

"Yeah, I am," she said, a little awkwardly.

"Sorry, he's a little out of it right now," said Kevin, giving Joe a 'don't be an idiot look.'

"That's okay, I understand," Miley said, being very understanding.

"We're just on our break, we were going to head out to get something to eat, would you like to come?" Kevin asked.

"Daddy, do you want to?" Miley asked her dad, even though she really didn't want him to go with them.

"You know what, I'll just stay here. You guys go out and have fun. But be careful," Billy Ray told the teens.

"Thanks, Daddy!" she smiled and kissed him on the cheek. Miley started walking towards the door with Kevin and Nick close behind. Billy Ray, however, held Joe back a little.

"Just because I'm not there doesn't mean I can't find out what went on. Have fun!" her father said in a serious (but trying not _too_ sound harsh) tone.

----------

Kevin, Joe, Nick, and Miley all walked into a small diner to try to avoid as much paparazzi as possible. They sat down at a booth in the back, Kevin and Miley on one side of the booth, and Joe and Nick on the other.

"The song you guys were singing sounded really great, what's it called?" Miley asked the brothers.

"Year 3000," said Joe, matter-of-factly.

"Cool name, I'm assuming it's about the year 3000?" Miley joked.

"Nope. It's about the year 2765," Nick said, without missing a beat.

"Oh, so you're cute _and _funny," Miley smiled at Nick.

"I do what I can," Nick shrugged, smiling back.

"Hey! I'm funny, too!" Joe whined.

"Sure you are," said Kevin.

They ordered their food and joked around and laughed the whole time. Joe was starting to get over his Hannah Montana thing as he realized that Miley really was nothing like someone he would be interested in; she wasn't even a _real_ blonde! Nick, however, was really enjoying her company. He didn't get to meet a lot of people his age that were as mature as he was, but he'd found it in Miley.

"We should probably get going back to the set now, we've been gone over an hour," Joe said.

"Wow, we have been gone a long time. My dad's probably freaking out," Miley laughed as she grabbed her purse to take out her money.

"You are not paying, little lady," Kevin told her when he saw what she was doing.

"Of course I am! You guys are so cool. Let this be my treat to you," she said, still getting out her wallet.

"Not a chance. _You_ are a treat enough," Nick said, grabbing for his wallet.

"Yeah, if we spent any more time with you, our teeth would probably fall out," said Joe.

"What?" Miley asked, chuckling at Joe's comment, forgetting to pick up on what Nick had said.

"Yeah, what?" Kevin asked his brother who wasn't making any sense.

"You know, 'cause she's a treat, like something sweet, that will rot out your teeth, and then you'd look like a hillbilly from Mozambique" Joe rapped.

"How do you come up with this stuff?" Nick asked his brother as they were all getting up. Nick paid the bill and Kevin left a tip; Joe really couldn't be relied on for things like that, and that's why Nick and Kevin got more of an allowance than Joe ever did, even though he never knew it.

----------

When they got back to the set, Billy Ray was the first to greet them.

"You guys were gone awhile; did you have fun?" he asked his daughter, and then looked behind her to see the 3 brothers, the middle one seeming to be quite nervous.

"Yeah, we did!" she told him.

"Boys! You've been gone longer than I allowed! Let's get back to this, please!" Charlie shouted at them.

"Sorry, Charlie!" Joe yelled back. "Hey, that rhymed!"

"Nice one, Joe. Well, Miley, it was great to meet you. Hopefully we're going to be around LA a lot more in the future. See ya around!" Kevin said as he hugged her.

"Hopefully!" Miley said back.

"Yeah, it was nice to meet you. Sorry about my idiot-ness. I don't really know how to control it yet," Joe said, as he hugged her as well.

"That's okay, Joe. I understand. I've had my moments as well," she replied. Joe and Kevin had walked back onto the set and were putting their white jackets back on. Nick was the only one she hadn't said goodbye to, and they were both standing there, not really sure what to say.

"I had a lot of fun today, Nick," she finally said.

"I had a lot of fun, too. It's not everyday I get to meet someone like you," he replied, gazing down at the ground and then at her. He hadn't been like this all day, but she was pretty sure he had just been putting on an act so his brothers wouldn't give him crap about it.

"I know what you mean. Let me know next time you're in town, we'll all go out and do something!" she said, stretching her arms out for a hug.

"That'd be great," Nick said, leaning into her and giving her a big hug. "Wait! How am I going to get a hold of you?" he asked, not wanting her to go.

"Here, I'll write down all my stuff for you," Miley said as she reached in her purse to get a piece of paper.

"Hurry up, Darlin'," Billy Ray shouted from the other side of the set. "I'll be in the car!"

"Okay, Daddy!" she yelled back. She finished writing down her AIM address, her cell phone number, and her house address in LA.

"destinysmiles15?" he asked, smiling at her.

"Shut up. I'm sure yours isn't much better!" she replied with a laugh.

"You'll just have to wait and see, won't you," he told her, putting the paper in his back pocket, and turning around to give his brothers a look when they started whistling and clapping. "Sorry about them."

"Don't be. I think they're cool," she said, looking over at them to see them waving to her.

"Wait until you spend more time with them," he said, getting her to focus back on him. "See ya around, Miley."

"I hope so," she replied with a smile, and with that, she turned around and walked to her dad's car. She didn't notice Nick watching her for most of the way, however, Billy Ray _did_.

---------

"Brandi!" Miley yelled as soon as she stepped foot in the house. "BRANDI!"

"What!" Brandi yelled back at her little sister who was running around frantically.

"Oh my 'lanta!" You will never believe what happened. Me and Dad got there, and these white suits, so cute, and cute boys and darks hair, three of them, so cute, and guitars, and the diner, and we laughed, so cute, AIM, my number, so cute!" Miley said all in one breath.

"What?" Brandi asked, even more confused.

"She met some boys," Billy Ray said, walking in the door.

"Ohhhh," exhaled Brandi. She looked over to her sister who was upside down in the recliner, a huge smile on her face. "I told you you'd meet somebody."

"It's like I wrote 'See You Again' for him before I even met him, but that's exactly how I feel!" Miley squealed.

"Don't get too attached, Darlin'. They are musicians. They don't stay in one place for long, and they _don't_ make good boyfriends," her father said.

"Oh really? I thought you made a great boyfriend, baby," said Tish, her mother, as she walked out of the kitchen.

"I was, uhh, I'm different. I was older," Billy Ray tried to cover himself.

"Come on, let her have a little fun. She just met them!" said Miley and Brandi's mom.

"Fine; but you let those boys know that I'm watchin' them!" Billy Ray said, leaving with Tish so the sisters could talk.

"So who did you meet?" Brandi finally asked her sister. Miley rolled off the chair and onto the floor next to Brandi.

"The Jonas Brothers!" she screamed.

"The who?" Brandi asked.

"The Jonas Brothers! They are this new band that are signed to Columbia. I met them today on the set of their new video. We went out for lunch and they are so cool, Brandi!" Miley said, getting excited again.

"So who's the lucky sibling?" asked Brandi, raising her eyebrows.

"His name is Nick, and he's so cute. He's my age, his brothers are older, but he's got this curly brown hair and he's a little taller than I am, and he's so nice! I gave him my number!"

"Really? Do you think he'll call?"

"I hope he does! I gave him my AIM, too. I'm just so excited!" Miley shrieked, getting up and jumping up and down.

"You certainly are!" Brandy laughed.

"What's wrong with you?" asked a 12 year old boy.

"Braison! I met the cutest boy today! He had brown curly hair and he--" she started.

"I don't wanna hear about it. You girls are so weird," he said, turning to walk back out of the room.

"You just wait until you fall in love, little brother," she said in a sing-song voice, walking up to him and pinching his cheek.

"I don't think so, I have more self control than you do, Miles," he chuckled as he left the room.

"And when it comes to Nick Jonas, I have no self control," Miley sighed.

Just then, Billy Ray poked his head around the corner.

"You better get some, then."


	3. Chapter 3

Thank you guys for the reviews! I smile every time I get one; they mean so much to me! I know that some of these songs that they wrote are out of order, but it makes more sense the way they are in here…and there aren't too many like that, I promise! Oh, and this chapter is all about the JoBros; Miley doesn't make an appearance, but she will in the next, I promise!

November 16, 2006

"She's the kinda girl that you see in the movies; seen her in my dreams and now she's standing next to me," Nick sang while lightly strumming on his guitar. "Nice," he said to himself, writing down those lyrics in his notebook.

"Hey, honey, what're you doing?" Denise Jonas walked into her son's room.

"Just writing," he said, barely looking up at her.

"You know, your brothers are downstairs watching a movie. Why aren't you with them?" she asked him.

"Oh, I've just got a lot on my mind," he replied, turning his full attention to his mother.

"Like what?" Denise asked as she raised an eyebrow. "A girl maybe?"

"No, just stuff."

"I'm not going to believe that one, young man. All you've been doing is writing love songs lately. So who is she?"

"Mom--" whined Nick.

"Nick--" she whined back.

"Her name is Miley. She's great, Mom. Miley Cyrus, the one I met, I mean, we met a few weeks ago. She's my age and she's so beautiful and mature. Mom, I can't stop thinking about her!" he said all in one breath.

"Slow down, honey," Denise warned.

"Sorry. I just get so excited talking about her."

"I can tell. Why don't you call her?" she asked him.

"I could; wait, how did you know I had her number?" he counter-questioned.

"None of my sons would walk away from a girl they like and not get their number, not even Frankie!"

"I guess, but it's kinda awkward. I haven't spoken to her since we all met her. She probably has forgotten about me by now," he said in a depressed tone, talking himself out of calling her.

"Don't you dare do that to yourself, Nicholas Jonas. No one could forget you, not even if they tried! Call her," Denise instructed her son.

"I don't know. Maybe I'll just get online and see if she's on," he said, building up his confidence again.

"That's a good idea, honey. Do it soon, though, okay? I hate you sulking around like this all the time," Nick's mom said with a smile.

"Thanks, Mom. I'll let you know how it goes," he told her as she was walking out the door and he was walking over to his computer. He signed onto AIM and added her screen name to his buddy list. She must have been online and accepted his request, because just a few seconds later, it said she had logged in.

destinysmiles15: who is this?

jobro3stud: its nick

destinysmiles15: nick who?

jobro3stud: nick jonas…isnt this miley?

destinysmiles15: oh…sorry, i thought you weren't going to ever call me!!

jobro3stud: yea, about that, ive been really busy

destinysmiles15: me 2…so whats up

jobro3stud: nm, u?

destinysmiles15: same…when r u in la again?

jobro3stud: lemme check, brb

jobro3stud: next monday…there for a week

destinysmiles15: we should hang out

jobro3stud: that sounds cool

destinysmiles15: unless you dont want to…i could just hang out with your brothers…

jobro3stud: haha, i dont think so…i wouldnt want to leave you alone with joe

destinysmiles15: why not?

jobro3stud: he has a thing for hannah

destinysmiles15: haha…good thing im not her

jobro3stud: yea, good thing cuz i like brown hair, not blonde

destinysmiles15: r u tryin to tell me sumthin nick?

jobro3stud: like what?

destinysmiles15: that you like me?

jobro3stud: uhh, no, i mean, i dont even kno u miley

destinysmiles15: true…just sounded like what u were tryin to say…

jobro3stud: o…sorry

destinysmiles15: its cool…call me when u get in la

jobro3stud: i will

destinysmiles15: maybe you could come by the set?

jobro3stud: ill work it out

destinysmiles15: cool…but i gotta go…family movie night and i get to pick out the movies this week! my sis is takin me to the store

jobro3stud: sounds like fun!

destinysmiles15: o yea…maybe u could come next week?

jobro3stud: sure

destinysmiles15: k, c u lata

jobro3stud: c ya miley

destinysmiles15: tootles!

Then she signed off. Nick couldn't believe it. He should have just said he liked her; she sounded disappointed when he told her it wasn't like that. She wanted to see him again, though, so that was a good thing. He had to go tell his mom!

"Mom! MOM!" Nick yelled, running from his bedroom, down the stairs and into the living room. "Mom, guess what!"

"What, darling?" asked Joe in a high pitched voice. Joe and Kevin were sitting in the living room on the couch watching TV

"Never mind," Nick said, a bit disappointed. "Where's Mom?"

"I think she's out by the pool," Kevin replied.

"Thanks!" Nick said hurriedly and ran out the back door. "Mom!" he yelled again.

"What?" Denise asked him as she stood up and turned around to look at her son.

"You sure do like getting your tan on, don't you Mom?" Nick joked.

"I don't know what 'tan' you are talking about," she said. She was in the back yard covering the rose bushes so they wouldn't freeze over. "It's only 60 degrees out here! We only get a few warm days in Jersey in November for me to do this, give me a break!" she laughed back.

"Fine, fine," he said, sitting down next to her.

"So how'd it go?" she finally asked him.

"How'd what go?" he asked her. She raised an eyebrow at him and he started laughing. "Oh, _that_! It went well, I hope. I didn't get to talk to her too long, she had to get offline. When we're in LA next week she wants to see me!"

"I told you she couldn't forget about you. Too bad I'm not going on this trip. I'd love to meet her!" Denise told her son.

"Who knows. Maybe we'll get married while we're out there and I'll bring her home. Hollywood kids these days are getting married younger and younger, ya know," he snorted.

"I'm sure," she said just as his brothers were coming out with their guitars; only Joe didn't play guitar, so it must have been Nick's.

"Hey, Mom, we thought we'd come out here and play a song for you," Joe said. "Or make one up for you."

"Well thank you Joseph. Sit, sit," she told them.

Joe, Nick and Kevin all sat around her and Nick started a little rhythm going, and Kevin came in with the harmonies for it.

"That's catchy," Denise told them.

"Where's dad?" Joe asked, having not seen him most of the day. "And Frankie?"

"Your dad took your brother to the hardware store to get some paint. I told him he couldn't leave for LA unless the porch was painted."

"I woke up, on my roof, with my brothers," Joe started to sing. Denise just laughed, along with Kevin and Nick. "There's a whale, in the pool, with my mother."

"Hey!" Denise playfully hit her son's leg.

"I wasn't saying you were a whale, mom, but Frankie's blow up whale _is_ in the pool," he stated.

"Fine, continue," she said, smiling.

"And my dad, paints the house, different colors," Joe started singing again.

"Where would we be, if we couldn't dream?" Nick popped in.

"That's really good, guys," the mother told them.

"Yeah, right. We're just messing around," Joe said.

"It's kinda hooky, though, don't you think?" Kevin asked his brothers.

"I like the music, but the words are just made up stuff," Joe said.

"Who cares? Keep going," Nick told his brother. "And I know," the younger brother started again.

"We get a little crazy," Joe sang, a little unsure of himself.

"And I know," Nick sang again.

"We get a little loud," Joe sang louder.

"And I know," Kevin and Nick sang together.

"We're never gonna fake it," Joe sang.

"Fake what?" Kevin asked.

"Doesn't matter," said Joe, and then went back to singing, "We are wild, we are free."

"We are more than you think," Nick chimed in.

"So call us freaks," sang Joe.

"But that's just the way we roll," Nick belted out.

"You guys better write that one down before you forget about it," Denise told them when they were done.

"Let's go do that right now!" Joe shouted and ran to the house. Kevin followed, but Nick stayed behind.

"They are going to need your help, honey," Denise told Nick.

"I know. I just wanted to say thanks for listening," Nick said to his mom, giving her a hug.

"Of course! I always listen to your music!" she said.

"No, I mean about Miley," Nick smiled at just saying her name.

"Anytime, sweetie. Now get in there and help your brothers! And call her before you guys leave for LA. It will mean a lot to her," Denise told her son as he was getting up to go back in the house.

"Thanks, Mom!" Nick said as he ran into the house to make sure Joe didn't mess up any of the lyrics.

When Nick got up to his and Joe's room, his brothers were already there, with the words all written down, correctly, and they were starting on the second verse.

"Starting without me, huh?" Nick asked them as he took a seat on his bed with his guitar.

"You're the one that was talking to Mom for half the day," Joe said forcefully.

"Is someone jealous that they aren't getting all the attention?" asked Kevin in a baby talk voice.

"No!" shouted Joe, with a scowl on his face.

"Anyway, here's what we've got so far, Nick," Kevin started singing. "You got moves, we got shoes, let's go dancin'."

"Yeah, pop and lock, style," Joe said (not sang) and got up and started doing the robot.

"That's so not pop and lock, Joe," Kevin said.

"Pop and lock, battle dance, against Hanson," sang Nick.

"What the hell?" Joe asked.

"People are calling us the new Hanson anyway, why not make it a song?" Nick replied.

"Whatever," said Joe.

"If we lose, all the girls, they'll be laughin'," sang Kevin.

"That's good, bro," Nick said, writing all that down in their 'combined' notebook. Each of them had their own, of course, but the songs they did together they put into one so it was easier to keep track of.

"Speaking of girls, little one," Joe started as he walked over to Nick and put him in a head lock and ruffled his hair, "what's the deal with you and Hannah?"

"Who? Oh, you mean Miley? Joe, that's just a character she plays, you are so weird," he said, paused, and then started again with, "nothing is going on."

"Do you want something to be going on?" Joe asked.

"I don't even know her, Joe," Nick said, getting annoyed. He liked to keep things like that private. His brothers, well mostly Joe, were always in his business and he just wanted something for himself.

"Come on, he's not going to tell us anything," Kevin told Joe. "Let's just finish the song?"

"Fine, but I'll get you one day, my pretty," Joe said to Nick in a wicked voice.

"You are seriously adopted," Nick mumbled.

"What did you say?"

"Nothing, Joe."

"Drop it," said Kevin, being the mature one.

"Mom! Nick said I was adopted!" Joe yelled as he ran out of the room.

"Classy," Nick said.

"Don't blame him, you started it. You know how he gets sometimes," Kevin told his younger brother.

"I know, he just pisses me off sometimes," Nick replied.

"Believe me, I know. So what's really going on with you and Miley?" Kevin asked.

"Really, nothing. We talked earlier on IM, but that's it."

"That's it?"

"Maybe she wants to see us when we go back to LA next week?" Nick questioned, a smile coming to his face.

"Maybe she just wants to see you?" Kevin counter-asked.

"I don't know, man," Nick replied, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

"I haven't see you like this before, Nick. Something's definitely going on, even if you don't know it yet," Kevin told him.

"I just get really nervous, I've never been like that with someone before. I mean, I'm shy, but not nervous. Miley just makes me so, so, I don't even know what it is, but it's nice."

"Hey. Joe and I have already been through this. Me with Kayla, Joe with Nina, and now you with Miley. We're cool until we meet that one girl, then we flip. I guess that's just the way we roll," Kevin laughed at himself and the line he just delivered.

"You're an idiot," Nick told him.

"But a clever one," retorted Kevin.


	4. Chapter 4

Hey guys. Just wanted to let you know that tomorrow (Friday) I'm going in to have surgery done…nothing too serious, but I'll have to stay there for awhile. I'll be writing like crazy cuz I can have my computer and I won't have anything else to do, but I won't be able to post at all until I get out! Please don't forget about me and my story, though, and add it to your favs! Thanks so much for the reviews and I'll update ASAP (prolly Monday or Tuesday).

November 18, 2006

Two days after Nick Jonas had called her, she was already wanting to hear from him again. She wanted to talk to him so badly that she just sat at her computer on AIM, hoping he would get on, but he didn't.

"He must be busy," she said to herself.

"Who's busy?" asked Noah, Miley's little sister.

"A friend," Miley told her, walking over to her bed to sit down. Noah sat down on the bed, too.

"A boy friend?" Noah asked in her cute little voice.

"No," Miley said in a 'duh' tone.

"Yuh-huh!" Noah teased.

"Nuh-uh!" Miley teased back as she started to tickle Noah.

"Stop! Miley stop!" Noah shrieked as Miley continued.

"Fine, fine," Miley said.

"Your birthday is soon!" Noah said, getting excited.

"I know! I'm so excited, Noah! Aren't you excited?" Miley said, really getting excited. She got up and started jumping up and down. Noah got up and did the same.

"Yes! I'm excited too, Miley!" Noah screamed.

"Birthday! Birthday! Birthday!" they started chanting as they grabbed hands and started jumping up and down and going around in a circle.

"Who's having a birthday?" asked Tish as she walked into Miley's room.

"Miley is, Mommy! Duh!" Noah told her mother.

"Oh, well, I guess she should have a party then, huh?" Tish asked her youngest.

"Yes!" Noah said.

"What kind of party?" Miley asked as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Whatever kind I want to give you, toots," Tish told her.

"I just don't want a freaking Mickey Mouse party like last year. I know I was into being new to Disney, but that was a little much, Mom," Miley told her.

"I know, and I'm sorry about that. Your dad thought it would be a good idea," she pleaded with her daughter.

"Dad and his ideas; you should know by now that--" Miley started.

"I know, Miley, and I'm sorry for last year, but I promise this year will be better. I just came up here to get a list of people you want to invite," said Tish.

"Got it right here!" Miley smiled as she pulled a few pages of notebook paper out of her desk drawer.

"Miley," Tish started as she started to look over the list, "I don't even know half of these people, and there's over 100 names here. We weren't really planning on a party this big for your 14th, honey."

"I'm just kidding, Mom. Here's my real list," said Miley as she opened up another drawer and pulled out 1 sheet of paper.

"That's more like it. Let's see, Casey, Jessica, Lesley, Emily, Mitchell, Jason, Laura, Nathan, looks pretty good sweetie," she said as she went down the list of about 30 names.

"I thought so," Miley beamed, swaying back and forth getting excited about her birthday again.

"May I ask why there are no Jonas brothers on this list?" her mother inquired.

"No you may not ask that," Miley said, scowling.

"What happened?" Tish sighed as she prepared for a major drama story from her young teen.

"I don't know, Mom. We were IMing and joking around and everything, and I thought he was trying to say that he liked me, Nick I mean, and I asked him if that's what he was trying to do, and he said no, and I felt really dumb and tried to play it off like I was joking, and now he hasn't even called me and I know it's only been two days, but I thought he would at least want to _talk_ to me again!" Miley spilled out.

"Did you breathe at all during that?" asked Noah, starring in amazement at her sister.

"No she didn't, and honey, it will be okay. You just met him and I'm sure he's nervous, too. And you know how busy _you_ are so just think about how busy _they_ are," said her mom.

"I know, I just wish he would call," Miley said, sulking back to her bed.

"He will, Miley, just give it time. Come on, Noah, come help me make your Daddy and brother lunch for when they get back from the gym," Tish said, putting her hand on Noah's head and guiding her out the door. "Why don't you write about it, honey?"

"That's a good idea," Miley said to herself after her mom shut her bedroom door.

Miley picked up her guitar and sat back down on her bed, notebook open and pencil ready, she started to sing.

"How did I get here? I turned around and there you were. I didn't think twice, or rationalize; cause somehow I knew that there was more than just chemistry. I mean I knew you were kinda of in to me, but I figured it's too good to be true."

---------

"Great dinner, Mom," said Kevin, kissing his Mom on the forehead.

"Yes, thanks, Mom," Nick countered.

"You boys are so welcome. I figured a big dinner on a wonderful Saturday night would be nice, and since you guys leave on Monday, I wanted to do something nice because I can't go on this trip," she said.

"You and Frankie will have lots of fun while we are gone," Kevin told her.

"I'm sure we will. Do you know where your brother is by the way?" asked Denise.

"Which one? The baby?" Nick asked her.

"Or the baby?" asked Kevin, who started laughing, along with Nick.

"Boys, be nice, and I meant Joe. Frankie is upstairs in my bed watching cartoons," she told them.

"That's where I'm headed. I could use a good dose of Scooby Doo," said Kevin, walking out of the kitchen.

"I'm pretty sure Joe's still doing what he was doing when I left him an hour ago and told him dinner was ready," Nick said, picking up the dishes from the table and walking over to his mother.

"What was he doing then?" she asked him as she took the dishes from Nick and took them over to the sink.

"He was trying to come up with new YouTube video ideas, talking to Nina I'm pretty sure, then online, then back talking to Nina, I think I heard him cry once, then he got his PSP out and was playing for awhile, so now he's probably back to thinking up YouTube ideas" Nick told her.

"Well, honey, with all the excitement upstairs, how could you pull yourself away to come down for dinner?" she playfully joked with him.

"Well, number one, I could never miss a dinner cooked by someone as wonderful as you, Mom," he said, kissing her on the cheek, "and number two, I'm superman and I can do anything," he finished with a smile.

"Yes you can, Nicholas. Have you called her yet?"

"Jeeze, Mom, way to ease into a subject! But no, I haven't. I don't know what to say to her!"

"Then IM her again or whatever you guys do now-a-days," she suggested.

"Okay. I'll tell Joe to come down and get some cold mashed potatoes and I'll try to talk to her. It's lunchtime there, you know," he said, getting excited about maybe talking to her again.

"I know, sweetie. Good luck," she said as she started to rinse off the dishes.

Nick walked upstairs to his and Joe's room. Joe didn't even look up from the computer when Nick walked in and said 'hey'.

"Joe! I'm talking to you!" Nick practically yelled at his brother.

"I said I'd be down in a minute!" Joe yelled back.

"That was over an hour ago, Joe. Mom's still waiting for you," Nick told his brother, knowing he would get up if he felt back for their mom.

"She is? Crap. I'll be back later," Joe told Nick as he walked out of the room.

"Finally," Nick whispered to himself. He logged onto AIM and saw that Miley was on. When he clicked on her name to chat, it said her webcam was on, so he clicked on that, too. He hadn't seen her in a few weeks and he kind of missed her. He saw her sitting on her bed across her room with her guitar and she was playing something. He turned up the volume on his computer so he could hear her.

"Somehow I knew that there was more than just chemistry. I mean I knew you were kinda of in to me, but I figured it's too good to be true," she sang. She had no idea Nick was listening to her, or even that her webcam was on!

"She has an amazing voice," he told himself, mesmerized by the scene he was witnessing. There she was, just sitting on her bed in sweat pants, a t-shirt, and socks. Her hair wasn't done and it didn't look like she had much make up on, but she was so beautiful.

"I said pinch me, where's the catch this time? Can't find a single cloud in the sky; help me before I get used to this guy," she continued, and then stopped.

"No! Nick almost yelled at the computer screen. Then he realized she was just writing down what she sang into a notebook, just like he would have done. And who was this _guy_ she was singing about?

"They say that good things take time; but really great things happen in a blink of an eye. Thought the chances to meet somebody like you were a million to one; I cannot believe it, you're one in a million," she sang and paused to write all of that down. She fumbled around with the chorus a few times before settling on it. "Oh, Jonas, the things you to do to me," she sighed.

"Did she just say Jonas?" Nick asked himself out loud.

"Did who say Jonas?" asked Joe, walking back into the room.

"Nobody, could you leave for just a little bit longer, Joe?" Nick asked his brother, not turning away from the computer.

"Whatcha doin'?" Joe asked, coming up right behind Nick to see what he was looking at.

"Joe, please? I'd leave if you asked and I'll tell you all about it later, I promise. Just once, Joe, give me a break?" Nick pleaded with his brother, unhappy about having to take his eyes off of her.

"Fine, but it better be good," Joe scoffed and shut the door behind him.

"Okay, she's going to think I'm some kind of creeper now, I should probably let her know what's going on," Nick thought to himself. "But how?"

Nick thought for a moment about how to tell her. She _obviously_ wasn't paying attention to her computer at all, so he decided to text her. But what?

He got out her phone number and punched it into his phone, saving the number. Then he attempted to write her a message.

"Hey, get on AIM," he wrote, but he didn't like that.

"You are so beautiful, Miley," he wrote, but that was way too creepy.

"You have an amazing voice," he wrote, and settled on. If he didn't take a chance, she might get away. He pushed send and a moment later saw her on her webcam walk over to her computer and grab her phone. She had a horrified look on her face, like she was both mad and scared.

"Who is this?" she wrote back. Of course! He didn't give her his phone number, so she didn't know it was him! He was such an idiot! Now what?

"Umm…its nick," he wrote back. She had sat down at her computer, apparently unaware that her webcam was on and he could see her.

She got the text message a moment later and all he saw was a huge smile come across her face, and all he _heard_ was an "Eeep!" just like from the show. She got up and started dancing around her room and fell back onto her bed, clutching her phone to her chest.

"Girls are so weird," he thought to himself. Then she began to think about how he could hear her. What was going on? Nick watched Miley get back up and pace around her room a few times before sending him a text back.

"U listening 2 one of my songs?"

Nick had to laugh at this. He technically was, but not in the way that she thought. Now he needed to explain with a rather long text.

"Kinda, I logged onto AIM 2 c if u were on and u were and then i saw ur webcam was on so i clicked on it 2 c if u were there and u were singing and i couldnt make myself stop u…i kno i sound like a creeper but im not…i promise!!" he sent her.

He watched as Miley got the text message and started reading. Right away she looked up at her computer with a look of horror, knowing everything she just did in front of him. She looked completely mortified. She didn't respond to his text, just stood there for a minute, still looking at the computer. Nick decided he should send her a message on AIM, since that's what she was looking at after all.

"im sorry i freaked u out miley…i didnt mean 2…ur just so amazing and beautiful when u sing and i couldnt stop you…it was really good by the way" he sent her. She finally realized what was going on and covered her face up. She knew she looked like a slob and she was almost more embarrassed for that!

---------

"Oh my 'lanta!" she said out loud. Miley then ran to the other side of the room that wasn't visible to her webcam and almost started crying. But wait, did he said she was beautiful? He did. Not like this, she wasn't, though.

She walked over to her purse sitting on the floor next to her bed and picked it up, and took it back to where the camera couldn't see. She put on a little bit of blush and some mascara, but she didn't have time for much else.

"miley? u there?" Nick typed.

"yea, sry, im here…u scared me, nick!" she typed back

jobro3stud: no, im sry…i shouldnt have done that

destinysmiles15: its ok…whatever…im kinda embarrassed tho

jobro3stud: u shouldnt b…it was great

destinysmiles15: i look terrible

jobro3stud: u look great…did u put makeup on?

destinysmiles15: yes…

jobro3stud: u dont need it

destinysmiles15: u r 2 much, boy!

jobro3stud: so whos this one in a million guy?

destinysmiles15: what?

jobro3stud: the song…

destinysmiles15: oh…u dont kno him…

jobro3stud: maybe i should…

destinysmiles15: jealous?

jobro3stud: maybe

destinysmiles15: y?

jobro3stud: y not?

destinysmiles15: i dunno…u get here monday?

jobro3stud: yup…around noon, but we r busy all day…

destinysmiles15: how long u here for?

jobro3stud: just til wed. now…gotta get back here 4 sum stuff

destinysmiles15: o…

jobro3stud: y?

destinysmiles15: j/w

jobro3stud: k…ill call u…

destinysmiles15: promise?

jobro3stud: promise…but joe wants on now…i gotta go

destinysmiles15: ok…c u soon!

jobro3stud: yes u will…bye miley

destinysmiles15: tootles!

"Oh, Jonas. The things you do to me," she said to herself again as she walked back over to her bed, still a little sad that he wouldn't be in town for her birthday, even if she _hadn't_ invited them. "The things you do."

Thanks so much guys for reading! I'll update as soon as I can, but in the meantime, you should check out Clairbear563's "Backwards and Forwards", the sequel to "Me and Mr. Jonas". They are both AMAZING!!


	5. Chapter 5

Thanks for everyone who wished me well! Everything went fine, although I slept more than I thought I would, so I didn't get as much writing in as I thought. But here you go…And review as always, please!

November 21, 2006

After spending the morning in meetings with execs at Columbia Records and at Sony Studios, the Jonas Brothers were exhausted, along with their father. _It's About Time_, their first album had come out in August, but hadn't done anything. Sony didn't want to put much more behind the brothers because they hadn't brought much success to the company as of yet. Kevin Sr. tried to persuade the CEO at Columbia to let them do one more CD, with maybe a few collaborations with other artists, but the record label wasn't biting. The 4 Jonas's walked out of the building feeling depressed and overworked and underappreciated. They took their rental car back to the hotel.

"I'm sorry, boys. I don't know what else we can do with them. We're going to have to start looking for another label," Kevin Sr. told them.

"We'd be in so much debt if we signed with another company, though, Dad. We have a contract," Kevin Jr. responded.

"Maybe we keep pushing and then they'll drop us," suggested Joe.

"Some of your ideas are so ridiculous, Joe," Nick said, shaking his head.

"Actually, that might work," Kevin Sr. said.

"Dad, are you serious?" Nick asked his father.

"Yes, I am. They aren't going to want to deal with a showbiz dad trying to get his kids a break. They are going to get so tired of us, I'll make sure of it," Kevin Sr. told his boys.

"Do we really want to do it like that, though, Dad? I mean, we are trying to come out clean here, and I don't think getting our hands dirty with Sony is the right thing," Kevin Jr. said.

"Don't worry. I'm not going to do anything stupid. Just keep telling them that you need to put out another album, that's all."

"Hey, if you think it will work, then that's great," the eldest brother said.

"Of course it will work! It was _my_ idea!" Joe told them.

"Oh please, just drop it, Joe," Nick whined, leaning down and putting his face in his hands.

"What's his problem?" asked their dad.

"He hasn't called Miley yet," Joe said.

"This has nothing to do with her. I just want us to be able to make music the way we want to and be able to have a lot of people exposed to it," Nick told them, a saddened tone in his voice.

"We'll get there, bud," Kevin Jr. told his younger brother, putting an arm around his neck. "We'll get there soon."

---------

"Ready on the set!" yelled the director's assistant.

"And…Action!" yelled Sheldon, the director.

"You should sell out more often!" said Emily, looking over to Miley who was sitting in the drivers seat of a brand new red mustang convertible.

"I didn't sell out!" Miley exclaimed, looking over at Emily sitting in the passengers seat.

"Saying you love something that makes you yak?" Emily asked her, giving her a look that needed an answer.

"Oh, please. Everyone exaggerates in commercials. Do you really think that that that. Cut! What's the line again? Sorry," Miley said, messing up her line.

"Do you really think that football player's mom follows him around with a can of soup?" said someone off set.

"Right. Okay, I'm ready," Miley said, composing herself. "Do you really think that football player's mom follows him around with a can of soup? I think not!"

"Great! Okay, ten minutes everybody!" yelled Sheldon.

"So you excited about your party?" Emily asked Miley as they both got out of the car and headed over to the food table.

"Yeah, I am. I wish I knew what my parents were doing, though," Miley sighed, picking up a plate.

"Maybe they won't do a theme this year," Emily joked as she picked up a plate herself, referring to the Mickey party last year.

"We will never speak of that again," Miley turned around and said to her, and then started laughing.

"But what's going on with you today? You don't usually _forget _your lines, you just fumble them. Something on your mind?" Emily asked her, a little concerned for her friend who was always very punctual but who had lately been distant.

"I'm fine. Really," Miley said in an unconvincing way while loading up her plate with snacks.

"Yeah, right. And Shia LaBeouf isn't a total hottie!" retorted Emily.

"You are so funny when you talk about him, Em!" laughed Miley.

"You just wait. Next year is going to be the year of the beef," her friend smiled.

"The what?" asked Miley.

"His last name means 'the beef'. Duh!" Emily said, picking up a few things from the table and walking over to some chairs with Miley.

"Whatever, you and your boys!" Miley said, rolling her eyes.

"Speaking of boys--" Emily started.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Miley raised an eyebrow at her friend and co-star.

"You know exactly what I mean, Miles. The Jonas Brothers?"

"What about them?" Miley said, starting to smile a little.

"You tell me," Emily said with a mouthful of food.

"They're really nice?" Miley somewhat questioned, hoping that would satisfy her friend. It didn't.

"Come on, Miley! Spill!" Emily started getting excited.

"Fine. Kevin is the oldest and he's really mature, kind of like the dad of the bunch of them. Joe is the middle one, and he's really funny, but he is kind of a doofus. I think he really _thought_ I was Hannah. And then there's Nick," Miley sighed.

"Nick, huh?" Emily asked her friend.

"Yeah. He's a great guy and we've talked on AIM a few times since I met him a few weeks ago. Saturday, I was in my room writing a song about him and he was watching me because I forgot to turn off my webcam. I was embarrassed, but he was really cute about it and got jealous of the 'guy' that it was about, but I think he knew it was about him and I really like him, Em," Miley said, again all in one breath.

"Wow. When you open up you _really_ open up."

"Sorry," Miley said, putting a slice of apple in her mouth.

"No, it's fine. I'm glad I know why you've been so weird lately. I mean, more than normal," Emily joked.

"Yeah, thanks," Miley deadpanned.

"No problem, so when's the next time you'll get to see them, or more importantly _him_," Emily giggled.

"They are actually in town today, and he said he would call me later on this afternoon," Miley said, checking her phone just to make sure she hadn't missed his call.

"Alright everybody, back to work," yelled Sheldon. Miley and Emily threw their plates away and walked back onto the set.

---------

"Ughh!" Joe groaned, flopping onto the bed. The Jonas men had just gotten back to their hotel and were even more exhausted than when they left the offices after the hour long car ride due to traffic.

"Well boys, I know it's only 3, but I'm beat, so I'm going to go take a nap and I'll probably just get room service for dinner. If you guys go out, be careful," Kevin Sr. told his sons, throwing them the set of keys before walked back to his own room down the hall.

"So what are we doing?" Nick anxiously asked his brothers.

"Dieing," said Joe in a pained voice.

"I'm serious, guys," Nick said.

"Oooo, does someone have a hot date?" Joe asked Nick.

"No, but I would like to call her and see her while we are in town," Nick said, picking up his phone.

"We could take her out to dinner," Kevin suggested.

"To the movies?" Joe asked, sitting up.

"It's not a date!" Nick said, a little too quickly.

"Do you want it to be a date?" asked his eldest brother.

"No, yes, I don't know. I don't know her that well yet."

"Why don't we invite her to go down to the beach with us, and we can have dinner down there and just hang out and stuff?" suggested Kevin.

"That could work," Nick said, pondering about it.

"Then call her and tell her to meet us there in an hour," Joe said.

"Okay. I'll be right back," Nick said.

"Just call her from here," said Joe as he fell back down on the bed.

"Fine. But be quiet."

"We're always quiet, Nicky," Kevin joked. Nick scrolled down on his phone and found Miley's number and called it.

"Shhh, it's ringing," Nick whispered.

"If it's only ringing, why are you whispering?" Joe asked in a hushed tone as well.

"Because I don't want her to pick up and thing I'm some kind of retard. Hey Miley!" Nick practically yelled into the phone, because he knew she heard him say retard.

"Hey Nick, what's up?" she said laughing.

"Oh, I just wanted to see what you were up to later on, maybe we could all get together and hang out or something?"

"Yeah, that sounds great. I'm just on my way back to my house from the set. What did you guys have planned?"

"Oh, well we figured we could go to the beach and have dinner there or something, and then do whatever afterwards. Kevin can drive."

"Okay, that sounds good. Which beach do you want to meet at?"

"There's more than one?"

"Nick, it's California! It's one big beach! How about we meet at LaVentiga off of Sunset on 5th?"

"Sounds great, Miley. See you in an hour. I can't wait."

"Me either. Bye Nick."

"See ya."

"So, how'd it go?" Joe asked in a gossipy voice.

"We're meeting her at La Ventiga off of Sunset and 5th?" Nick said, a little unsure.

"Where's that?" asked Kevin

"I have no idea," replied Nick.

---------

"Brandi!" Miley yelled as she turned the corner to go down the hallway to her sisters room.

"What's up?" Brandi asked as Miley opened her door.

"I need to you to take me to La Ventiga in about 45 minutes. Can you do that?" Miley asked her big sister.

"Yeah, who are you meeting?"

"The Jonas Brothers!" Miley squeaked.

"Ooo, that sounds exciting!" Brandi replied.

"I know. I'm very excited. They are taking me down to the beach for dinner," Miley told her.

"Then why are you meeting at La Ventiga?" questioned her sister.

"Because it was less complicated than telling them which beach to go to," Miley said, matter-of-factly.

"Fine. Just make sure it's okay with Mom," Brandi told her.

"Do I have to?" Miley pleaded.

"Yes! I'm not taking the fall for you, Miles. Now go ask them," Brandi said, basically pushing her sister out the door.

"Fine," Miley grumbled. "Mom! Dad! Where are you?"

"In the den, sweetie!" called Tish.

"Hey!" Miley said, running up to them out of breath. "Can Brandi take me to La Ventiga?"

"Who are you meeting?" asked her father.

"Just some friends."

"What friends?" Billy Ray questioned her daughter again.

"The Jonas Brothers are in town and they want to hang out. Brandi said she'd take me and Kevin can bring me back. Please, Daddy?" Miley pleaded.

"Fine. But be back by seven," he said.

"Billy! Give her a break. Be back by nine, honey," Tish told her daughter.

"Thanks, Mom. Thanks, Dad. I'll be back later!" Miley ran out of the den and back up to her room to get ready.

---------

Joe and Nick were standing outside of La Ventiga waiting for Miley to show up while Kevin waited in the car. Brandi pulled up to the restaurant and stopped right out front.

"Be careful, Miles, and call me if you need anything," Brandi said, leaning over the center console to hug her sister.

"I'll be fine. I'll be home later. And thanks for driving me!" Miley said.

"No problem, sis. Have fun!"

"I will! Bye!" Miley said as she stepped out of her sister's car. Wearing a thin red sweater and blue jeans with flats, she looked like a regular girl going to meet her friends. However, a regular girl she was not. About 5 people came up to her and asked for her autograph and 5 turned into 10 and then into 20. Nick and Joe saw what was going on and got her attention.

"I'm sorry!" Miley yelled at them.

"It's okay. We'll have Kevin pull up so you can just get in," said Nick as he and Joe went to find Kevin. Miley signed a few more autographs and then Kevin pulled up. Kevin leaned over and opened the front passengers door for her to get in. Miley apologized to her fans that didn't get autographs, and got into the car.

"I'm so sorry, guys," Miley apologized to the brothers.

"It's totally fine," said Kevin. "It doesn't happen to us a lot, but when it does, it really hits."

"Yeah. At least your fans are younger, like 8 year olds aren't going to do much damage. We on the other hand have fans who are like 14, and they are vicious; throwing 'bows and everything!" Joe exclaimed.

"Joe, your ridiculous," Nick said. "So other than _very_ popular, how are you?" he asked Miley.

"I'm good. My parents are surprisingly okay with this, but I have to be home by nine," she told them.

"That's fine. I mean, it's not even six yet, so we've got plenty of time," said Kevin.

"So how do we get to the beach?" Nick asked.

"Oh, go up to this stop light and make a left. You're going to go through 3 stop lights and then make a right and at the next stop sign take a left and it's like right there," Miley rambled off.

"Yeah, you're going to have to go through that again when we get where we need to turn," Kevin told her.

"That's fine. So what do we have planned?" Miley asked the boys.

"We ordered room service and then packed it all up in here," Joe said, lifting up a backpack.

"I hope you didn't order soup!" Miley laughed.

"Nope, just sandwiches and chips and water," Joe told her.

"Is that okay? Because we can stop somewhere and get you something," said Nick.

"No, sandwiches are great. Thanks," Miley smiled.

They got to the beach after about 10 minutes of traffic and Kevin parked the car while Miley, Nick, and Joe set up their little picnic. It was starting to get a little darker outside, but not too dark to eat, yet.

"You guys did good," Kevin told the other three when he walked up and saw the blanket spread out and the food unpacked.

"Let's eat! I'm starving!" Joe yelled, getting exited about the food.

"Dig in!" Miley said and took a big bite out of her sandwich. Everyone just laughed.

After they had all eaten and packed up the leftover food and put it back in the car, they decided that they would stay on the beach and just talk, get to know each other better, even if they couldn't see each other very well since it was getting dark.

"So what are you guys in town for anyway?" Miley asked them.

"We had to meet with some people at our record company," Kevin told her.

"Oh! You guys putting out another CD?" she asked.

"Not even. They don't want to put any more money behind us," Joe said, getting upset.

"Oh, I'm sorry guys. Have you started looking for another label?"

"We're thinking about it. You have any ideas?" Kevin asked.

"Well, I mean, I haven't heard a lot of your stuff, but you seem to be pretty clean and everything. I'm signed to Hollywood Records, Disney's company, and you guys would be great on it, I think," Miley told them.

"We'll have to look into it," Nick said.

"So if you don't mind me asking, what's up with the rings? You guys married? Or are they--" Miley started.

"Purity rings," the brothers said together.

"Yeah, we each promised that we would stay pure until marriage. I was 13 when I pledged," Kevin told her.

"I was 14," said Joe.

"And I was 12," Nick said.

"You guys, that's so cool. This is mine. It's kinda fancy, but my dad bought it for me 2 years ago and I love it!" Miley exclaimed, showing off her purity ring with a pink diamond in the small silver band. "So do you guys go to church a lot?"

"Whenever we aren't traveling. It's really important to us," Nick told her.

"Me too. It's really hard being out here and seeing people my age go out and do stupid things, because I don't understand why they would want to do anything like that, but my family and God keep me pretty grounded," she said.

"Not a whole lot of girls out here like you, Miley," said Kevin.

"And that's just the way I like it," Miley smiled and then laughed. They all kind of laughed a little and then sat there, in a little bit of an awkward silence.

"You said you were 14, right?" Joe asked.

"Yeah, why?" Miley asked.

"I was just wondering how much of an age difference there was between you and Nicky over here," Joe said as he put his arm around Nick's shoulders.

"Joe!" Nick yelled at his brother.

"Yeah, I'm 14. But I'll be 15 on Thursday," Miley said, winking at Nick.

"Oh really? Well happy birthday!" Kevin told her.

"Yeah, happy birthday, early," said Nick.

"You having a party?" asked Joe.

"Joe, you can't just ask people things like that!" Nick whispered at his brother, but in a harsh tone.

"Actually, I am. Just a few friends, nothing too big. The biggest present is not having to be on set on my birthday so I can just chill," she told them.

"And we weren't invited?" Joe asked. Miley blushed and looked rather embarrassed.

"Joe. You are so rude!" Kevin told him.

"I'm sorry, Miley. Joe just doesn't know when to shut up sometimes," Nick grumbled, looking at his brother.

"Well, I knew you guys weren't going to be in town, and it's just a small party, not many people are coming, and I, I'm really sorry," Miley rambled on.

"Hey. It's totally fine. Don't worry about it. We are going to be out of town, anyway," Kevin told her, reassuring her that it was fine.

"I just didn't think about it and--"

"Miley! It's fine. Really," Nick told her, putting a hand over hers.

"Okay," she said softly, smiling. "I really wish you guys could go, though."

"Believe me, if there was a way, we would be," said Nick. Miley smiled again at him and Joe acted like he was gagging. Kevin hit him on the arm and checked his phone.

"Hey, guys. It's 8:30, and we should probably get Miley back to her house," Kevin said.

"Oh, yeah. I didn't realize how late it was," she said, standing up along with the boys. They packed up the car and drove back to Miley's house. She leaned over the console and gave Kevin a hug.

"Thanks so much for hanging out with me, tonight guys!" Miley said. Then she reached in the backseat to hug Joe, but that was a little hard to do, so instead, he took her hand and kissed it.

"It was our pleasure, m'lady," he said in a thick British accent.

"You crack me up, Joe!" Miley squealed. Then she looked at Nick.

"I'll walk you to the door," Nick said quickly, wanting to get out of the car.

"Okay," Miley said, opening her door and getting out. Her and Nick walked up to the front door.

"I'm really glad you called, Nick," Miley said, smiling.

"I'm really glad you came with us," Nick replied, smiling back at her.

"I should get inside," Miley motioned to the house.

"Yeah, umm, right," Nick rubbed the back of his neck. "Umm, I'll call you?" he said, unsure of himself.

"That'd be great," she beamed. Nick started to walk down the porch steps and Miley turned to the house. Just as her hand hit the doorknob, Nick called out to her.

"Happy birthday, Miley."

"Thank you, Nick."

Nick turned back around and got in the car and Miley went into the house. When she closed the door, she looked out the side window next to the door and watched the boys pull away. Miley turned back around and with a squeal, slid down the door.

"You're so weird, Miley. You're not in a movie!" Braison said as he walked by his sister sitting on the floor.

"No, but Nick Jonas is my prince charming," Miley said in a dreamy voice.

"Give me a break!" Braison said as he rolled his eyes. "Girls."


	6. Chapter 6

Okay, so first off, I completely forgot the Miley's birthday in 2006 was Thanksgiving…so we're just going to pretend that it wasn't because it doesn't work in my story, lol. Keep the reviews coming please, they really help! Let me know if you want to see anything in the rest of the story! Thanks guys!

November 22, 2006

"Why so glum, chum?" Joe asked his younger brother.

"I'm fine, Joe," Nick replied, carrying his small duffle bag onto the plane and sitting by the window.

"You don't look fine," Joe said, taking the seat next to him. Kevin and their father sat in the seats in front of the two younger Jonas men.

"I am!" Nick snapped.

"Dude, you've been pretty irritable for awhile. Your sugar okay?"

"It's fine, Joe," Nick said, slightly annoyed, but lightening up because he knew his brother really was concerned.

"Okay, I'm just looking out for ya," Joe said.

Nick rested his head on the window of the plane as they began to take off. He closed his eyes and wished he wasn't leaving California. He loved being in LA, even if their label _was_ ready to drop them. It didn't hurt that Miley was there, but contrary to Joe's beliefs, it wasn't the primary reason Nick loved southern California.

"You are now free to move about the cabin," said an automated voice from the speakers in the ceiling and the seatbelt lights went off. It was an early morning flight and not many people were on it, and the few who were had no idea who the Jonas Brothers were. Joe got up to go to the bathroom and Kevin came to sit next to his brother. Nick had just started to nod off to sleep when he felt his big brother brush up against him.

"What's up man?" Kevin asked.

"Not much. Just tired. I didn't sleep well last night," Nick shrugged.

"Well," Kevin started and put a hand on Nick's shoulder, "we'll be home soon so you can sleep then, but right now you better get those creative juices flowing!"

"What are you talking about?" Nick chuckled.

"You always write some of your best stuff on planes! Especially when you're tired," Kevin winked.

"You're in my seat," Joe said, a little irritated because he was tired as well.

"Touchy, touchy. I'm getting up," Kevin joked, holding his hands up in surrender.

"Hey, I'm back," Joe said to Nick as he sat back down.

"Really? I had no idea!" Nick said in a sarcastic, but happy voice.

"Oh, someone's in a better mood," Joe raised an eyebrow.

"Kevin told me I need to write, and I've got a few things I wanna say," Nick said, taking his notebook out of his duffle bag and starting to write down a few ideas and piecing them together. Joe tried looking over his shoulder a few times, but with 3 brothers, Nick had gotten pretty good at being able to hide things from them, so Joe had no luck with figuring out what Nick was writing about. However, Joe certainly had his own ideas that he took into dreamland with him as he drifted off to sleep.

---------

November 23, 2006

"You think she's gonna like it this year?" Billy Ray asked his wife as walked up behind her and put an arm around her waist.

"She's gonna love it, baby," Tish turned around and said before she kissed him.

"How'd you get her out of the house?" Billy asked.

"I gave Brandi and her some money to go shopping with, to get something nice for the party."

"She knows?" Miley's father asked.

"Uhh, yeah. She's 14, of course her parents are throwing her a party!" Tish laughed and slithered out of his embrace so she could get back into the kitchen and get the food going for that night. It was still morning, but she knew she would still be running late.

"Where are Brais and Noah?" asked Billy Ray, following his wife. He was just full of questions and lacking a lot of answers about what was going on that day, as he usually did.

"Trace took them to go get Miley presents and they're picking up the cake on their way back later on this afternoon.

"So we have the house all to ourselves?" Billy Ray asked his 5th question in a row, walking slowly up to Tish.

"Don't even think about it. We have way too much to do. Here," Tish threw an apron at him.

"You want me to cook?" he asked her, a little dumbfounded.

"I don't like this game of 20 questions, Billy. Get your butt in gear, we have a party to throw!" she instructed him in her 'mom' voice.

"Yes, ma'am," he said glumly, wishing he was picking out a birthday present for Miley with three of his kids. He still didn't have anything for her.

---------

Miley had been trying on outfits all day and hadn't come up with anything. She wanted something fun, but not too fancy, because she didn't know what kind of party it was, but her mom told her it wasn't fancy, for sure. She didn't really want to look like Hannah either, although she did pull off that 'flashy' look rather well.

"Brandi! I've decided I'm going to my party naked," Miley grumbled as she slumped down onto a chair in the store.

"You're out of your mind, come on, we still have half the mall to cover," Brandi said, pulling her sister up.

"I'm just tired of being stopped. I love my fans, but sometimes it's too much," Miley half smiled with a conflicted look on her face.

"Look, you're doing what you love, and the fans come with that. Put on your hat. We'll walk fast," Miley's older sister said as she dragged Miley out of the store.

After about 50 outfits, or so it seemed to both Miley and Brandi, Miley had finally found the perfect one. An aqua colored lace cami with white polka dots and a dark brown half-sweater over the top of it, with Silver brand jeans in a dark wash with brown stiletto boots that came a little over halfway up her calf, over her jeans of course.

"It's perfect," Brandi said as Miley was thinking it. "Thank the Lord!"

"Now we gotta find you an outfit!" Miley squealed as she went back into her dressing room to change. Miley loved picking out clothes for other people, although she could never decide on anything for herself to wear.

"I can just wear something from home, Miles," Brandi called to her sister. Then Miley poked her head out of the dressing room door.

"Don't even think about it. It's _my_ birthday and we are going to _shop_!"

---------

The Jonas's had gotten back home the day before, but all 3 brothers were still tired from the trip, mostly because they were stressed about finding another label. Joe was still in bed, not sleeping, but still in bed. Imagine Cameron from _Ferris Bueller's Day Off_ and add a glooming singing voice and you've got Joe.

Kevin was out with some friends and Nick was home with Frankie while his parents went out to get groceries and run a few other errands. Frankie, unlike his brothers, was very energetic and wanted to do something; anything!

"Nick!" Frankie yelled at his brother as he jumped off the back of the couch onto Nick's back, taking him down to the ground.

"Frank, bud," Nick started as he picked himself and his brother off the ground, "you gotta warn me before you do that."

"Sorry," Frankie pouted. He looked so cute like that.

"It's alright," Nick said as he ruffled his youngest sibling's hair. "Let's get a snack, huh?"

"Yeah!"

"What do you want?"

"A triple peanut butter banana marshmallow cream sandwich!" Frankie screamed. He apparently had been eating with Joe too much.

"That's disgusting. How about plain old peanut butter and jelly?" Nick asked.

"Fine," Frankie said, just excited that he was getting to spend time with his brother. They were gone a lot and Frankie didn't always get to go. When they were home, they were out a lot with their own friends, and since Frankie was only 7, he didn't get to go a lot of places with them.

After they were done eating, Nick washed their dishes and Frankie helped him dry them. Frankie was raring to go and Nick just wanted to chill out with his guitar. Maybe he would wake Joe up and he could watch Frankie for awhile.

"Hey man, I'm going out, I'll see you later," Joe called to Nick as he ran past him and to the front door.

"Where are _you_ going?"

"AJ just called. She's in town, I gotta go," Joe said, pulling on his coat and slamming the door. So much for having Joe watch Frankie.

"Wanna play Bob the Builder with me?" Frankie asked Nick, referring to his new PlayStation 2 game.

"How about I just watch you, bud," Nick suggested, really not wanting to play, but not wanting to hurt Frankie's feelings either.

"Okay, come on!" Frankie grabbed Nick's hand and pulled him into the living room.

"Let me go grab my guitar, I'll be right back. Go ahead and set up the game," Nick told his brother as he pulled away from his grasp and ran upstairs. When he came back down with guitar and notebook in hand, Frankie was already playing and completely oblivious that Nick was even in the room, even after he started playing.

"California, I've been missin' you; it's true," Nick started. "I can't write a song about a freaking state. Where's my head today?" Miley, that's where his mind was. It was her birthday and he hadn't called her yet, but she was 4 hours behind him and he didn't want to wake her up if she was sleeping. Maybe he'd write her a song, since he was _pretty_ sure she'd written one about him.

"Hello beautiful, how's it going? I hear it's wonderful, in California. I've been missin' you, it's true," he sang, smiled, and wrote it down. He could already tell this was going to be quite easy.

---------

"Hey, Mom, we're just pulling up now, where would you like us to come in at?" Brandi asked her mom. She had called her because she knew that the party would be in the living room and her parents wanted it to be a surprise to Miley.

"Can you bring her in through the kitchen, B? And when you take her to the stairs, make her close her eyes, please?" Tish asked her eldest daughter.

"Yup, got it," Brandi told her mom and hung up. "We've got to go in through the kitchen, and you have to close your eyes as we go up the stairs."

"That's fine. I don't want to see it until tonight anyway," Miley said, shrugging. They got their bags out of Brandi's car and the sisters walked into the kitchen. Miley closed her eyes even before she reached the living room to get to the stairs. She wanted it to be a surprise, too. "You're going to have to guide me, Brandi."

"Got it," Brandi said, grabbing Miley's arm and leading her to the stairs. Miley tripped a few times, but didn't fall and finally reached her room. "Now I'm going to leave you be for a little while. Talk to your friends, whatever, just _don't_ go downstairs," Brandi warned.

"I won't, I won't!" Miley said, holding her hands up in defense. She really didn't want to see her party just yet. She decided that she would take a little nap since she figured she'd be up most of the night. As she drifted off to sleep, she wondered what Nick was doing, and why he hadn't called.

---------

"Yes!" Nick said to himself, a little too loud.

"What?" Frankie said, looking up from his game for the first time in 2 hours.

"Nothing, sorry," Nick apologized.

"Whatcha lookin' at?" Frankie walked up behind him. Nick was sitting at the computer desk in the living room. There were a bunch of words and numbers that were too little for Frankie to read from where he was standing.

"Nothing, bud. How about you go find Kev, huh? He got home just a little while ago. I think he's in the game room with Will," Nick told Frankie, hoping he would bite. He did.

"Awesome!" Frankie yelled and ran towards the game room. "Hey Kevin!"

Nick finished looking up what he needed to and printed it off. He called the phone number on the bottom of the page and a nice lady answered. He asked a huge favor of her. Thankfully she was able to help him.

"You can? Oh my gosh, thank you so much, ma'am. I will call you back at this number as soon as I talk to my parents. Thank you, thank you, thank you! Bye!" Nick said into the phone and hung up. He ran upstairs to his room with phone and guitar in tow. He shut his bedroom door and thank goodness Joe wasn't home yet. He scrolled through his address book and got to her number. Miley.

She answered after a few rings with a groggy voice.

"Hello?" Miley asked slowly.

"Hey birthday girl! Did I wake you up?" Nick asked, a little sorry he had called.

"No, no, I was just, umm," she started and he could hear her rustling around, probably sitting up.

"Sleeping?" he asked.

"Yes," Miley said, starting to get her voice back to normal.

"I'm sorry. I figured you'd be up by now. What time is it there, anyway? Like two o'clock?" Nick said, apologizing and mocking her at the same time.

"Yes, and I've been up and shopping already, but I have my party tonight so I wanted to get some more sleep in."

"Oh, well I'll let you sleep," he said, not really wanting to get off the phone with her.

"NO!" she said a little too quickly. "I mean, I'm fine, I needed to get up anyway. What's up?"

"Nothing really. I just wanted to call and wish you a very happy birthday," he told her and it was like he could hear her smiling on the other line. He _even_ thought he heard a little "Eep!"

"Well thank you, Mr. Jonas," Miley said, scrunching up her nose with happiness. "So what'd ya get me?" she laughed, and so did he.

"Actually," Nick started.

"Oh no, you didn't really get me anything did you?" Miley asked, getting a little nervous.

"Kind of. It's not something that I really got, it just kind of came to me," he said, sarcastically but serious.

"What are you talking about?" Miley laughed into the phone. It seemed she laughed more and more every time she talked to him.

"Get on AIM," he told her.

"Okay, do you want me to hang up?"

"Sure. See you in a minute," Nick said, and went over to his computer and signed on. Just a few seconds later, Miley did, too. He asked her if he could see her webcam, because he wanted her reaction and then sent her a request to view his. He told her to turn up her volume and when she said she had, he pushed back his chair a little and picked up his guitar. He could see her smiling, because she knew that he was going to sing to her.

"This is for you, birthday girl," Nick smiled into the camera and started playing his guitar.

"Hello beautiful, how's it goin'? I hear it's wonderful in California. I've been missing you its true," he sang looking into the camera. He loved the look on her face, she was smiling wildly, and now he knew why her dad started calling her 'Smiley'.

"But tonight I'm gonna fly. Yea tonight I'm gonna fly," he crooned and kept strumming the chord. "'cause I could comb across the world, see everything and never be satisfied, if I couldn't see those eyes."

He stopped playing and looked up at her, waiting for some kind of reaction.

"Nick, that's beautiful and amazing and, oh my gosh, thank you so much," she sighed.

"I'm not done yet," he told her, and watched her face light up even more, if that was possible.

"Hello beautiful, it's been a long time, since my phone's rung, and you've been on that line. I've been missing you, it's true," he sang to her. "But tonight I'm gonna fly. Yea tonight I'm gonna fly! 'Cause I could comb across the world, see everything and never be satisfied, if I couldn't see those eyes," he finished. He had closed his eyes for the last few lines as he got into the song, and when he opened them, he saw that she was crying.

"Miley, what's wrong?" Nick asked her, concerned that he had upset her, or worse, scared her.

"Nothing, Nick. Nothing at all. That was so amazing. No one other than my dad has ever written a song about me before. I love it, thank you," she said, wiping her cheeks. "How did you come up with that?"

"Same way you came up with One in a Million," he winked at her.

"What, umm, what are you talking about?" Miley asked nervously.

"That song you were singing when I caught you. I'm not stupid, Miley," he told her.

"I haven't named it yet, though," she said, smiling.

"I just did that for you, didn't I?"

"You certainly are one in a million, Nick Jonas," she said.

"Why thank you Miss Miley," he said in a very fake southern accent and she giggled. "So you liked it? Really?"

"Really. By far the best birthday present ever," Miley told him. "But what's up with the flying? You gonna surprise me tonight at my party?"

"Oh, no, I just, I mean, I meant that you make me want to, you know, be lifted up, and I just," Nick stuttered.

"I'm just kidding, Nick. I knew what you meant," she smiled and laughed at his nervous demeanor.

"Well, I'm really glad you liked it."

"I did, thank you."

"But I've gotta go. Dinner's almost ready and I have to help set the table," Nick lied, although she wouldn't know that.

"What? Oh, right, the time difference. What time is it there?" she asked him.

"A little after 6," he informed her.

"Okay, well have a good dinner," she said, a little disappointed that he had to go, but still not able to wipe the smile off of her face.

"And you have a wonderful birthday party, Miley. Happy, happy birthday, pretty girl," he said, smiling back.

"Thank you. Don't forget about me," she winked.

"Couldn't if I tried. See you later," Nick said.

"Tootles!" Miley said and turned off her webcam. Nick sat there for a few minutes, reflecting on what had really just happened. Had he really just sang her a song? Had she really enjoyed it that much? Now he knew he had to talk to his parents for sure.

Just as Nick was reveling in his own glory, he heard the front door open and his mom call out that they were home. He rushed down the stairs so fast he was surprised he didn't fall.

"Mom! Dad! I need to talk to you!" Nick yelled out of breath at them.

"Nick, honey, what's up?" Denise asked.

"This," Nick told her, grabbing the print out from earlier and handing it to her.

"What's this?" Kevin Sr. asked, scanning the paper and getting a confused look on his face.

"Dad, I have to. It's her birthday," Nick told him.

"Who's?" his dad asked.

"Miley's," Nick and Denise said at the same time, and then looked at each other and smiled. Nick knew she would give in.

"I don't see why not," Denise said, looking up at her husband. "What do you think?"

"Are you sure about this, Nick?" he asked.

"Yes. And I won't even get my allowance for 3 months. I won't even _ask_ for it, please, Dad," Nick begged. Nick didn't ask for much from his parents, and this was a pretty big deal in itself, but Denise and Kevin knew that even though their son was 14, he knew what he was doing; he was much more mature than their 17 year old son, and sometimes even more than their 18 year old.

"Okay, I'll make the call. Go get my purse so I can have my credit card," Denise told Nick. Kevin Sr. walked over to his son and put an arm around him.

"You're really something, Nick, you really are."

"Thanks, Dad. I mean it. Thank you both," Nick said, truly appreciative. Denise was already on the phone and waved him off.

"You don't have much time. Go get ready! You're dad will be waiting in the car," she told him while she motioned to her husband to get the keys, and with that, he was off and running back up the stairs to his room. Tonight was going to be great.


	7. Chapter 7

Thanks so much everyone for the reviews! Let me know if you want to see anything special in the next few chapters and let me know what you thought of all these! And lots of you are adding me to your favs but I'm not getting that many reviews. Please reveiw...they mean a lot to me and really help me get going in writing the next chapters. Thanks again!

November 23, 2006 (still)

"Brandi!" Miley screamed as she ran down the hall and barged into her sister's room. "You will never guess what happened!" she said quite loudly as she flopped down on the bed.

"I have no idea, spill," Brandi said, pushing her laptop over to the side of the bed.

"Nick just called me," Miley said in a dreamy voice.

"Did he propose?" Brandi laughed.

"He may as well have," Miley sighed. "He sang me a song for my birthday!"

"What did he sing?"

"He wrote one for me!" she squealed.

"Are you serious?" Brandi asked.

"Totally! It was so amazing, Brandi. He's wonderful!" Miley said, sitting up.

"He sounds like it."

"He is!"

"Hey, girls, how's everything going?" Tish asked as she poked her head around the door.

"Good," Brandi said.

"Amazing!" Miley said as she clasped her heart and fell back on the bed.

"What?" Tish looked at her elder daughter.

"Nick wrote her a song," Brandi rolled her eyes.

"Well that's exciting," Tish said, walking over to her daughters. She sat down on the bed and put her hand on the back of Miley's head and ran her fingers through her hair. "Too bad he's not coming tonight. I'd love to meet this boy."

"Me too," said Brandi.

"Well he's not," Miley said, getting a little upset.

"Oh no, don't do that, baby girl. You stay happy, happy, happy for your party tonight!" Tish said.

"What am I supposed to do until I have to get ready? I have so much time to kill!" Miley asked her mom.

"Hold on a second," Tish said walking out of Brandi's room. She walked down the hall to the closet and pulled out a big bag full of gifts. She took out a purple present with a white bow on it, put the bag back, and walked back down to her daughter's room. "Here. Just a little early birthday gift."

"What's this?" Miley asked as she opened it. "Oh my gosh, Mom! Thank you!" Miley squealed. It was a copy of High School Musical and she was ecstatic.

"I'll go get Noah. Her, Trace, and your dad just got back a little while ago. I'm sure she's going to want to see it," Tish told her daughters as she got up and walked out of the room.

A few hours later, after the movie was over, Miley decided that she should start getting ready. It was a little past five and the party started at 7. She had plenty of time, but she didn't want to be rushed.

Brandi helped her curl her hair which took about half an hour, since her hair curled fairly easily but she had _a lot_ to curl. Then Miley helped Brandi with her hair, even though she didn't really need help, but it was a sister thing. They always helped each other get ready before big events like this. Noah was next and Miley and Brandi both helped her get ready; picking out her outfit and doing her hair and giving her a touch of blush. She was only 6 going on 7, but what girl didn't like to put a little make up on sometimes.

Noah went downstairs to show her dad and Miley left Brandi's room to go get ready. It didn't take her long to get ready, since she already had an outfit picked out. It was 6:30 and she was getting very anxious. She was excited about this party, because she knew this time would be better than the last one.

She walked back down to Brandi's room and knocked on the door. Brandi called out to her that she could come in and she did. Brandi looked amazing in a red v-neck sweater with a black cami underneath, light blue jeans and red flats.

"Hey, help me pick out some jewelry," Miley asked/told Brandi.

"Okay, come over here," Brandi said as she pulled out a big case from under her bed and plopped it down on the bed and opened it. All kinds of jewelry was displayed in the case, from gaudy to classy, Brandi had pretty much any piece in any color.

"Ooo, these would look great with your outfit!" Miley said as she pulled out a pair of small black plastic hoop earrings.

"Nah, I'm just going to wear my studs that Mom and Dad got me last year," Brandi said, picking them up off her dresser on the other side of the room and putting them in.

"What do you think about this?" Miley asked her sister as she turned around and held up a small star necklace with a diamond on one of the points at the bottom.

"It looks great! Now let's find you some earrings!" Brandi said, walking back over to her bed.

"And a bracelet," Miley informed her as she started sifting through the mess of accessories.

"Actually," Brandi started as she rummaged around under her bed again. "Here, happy birthday, Miles." Miley opened the small box and pulled out a gorgeous tennis bracelet.

"B, this was too much," Miley said, looking up at her sister.

"It really wasn't. Now put it on!" Brandi told her sister as she took the bracelet from her and put it around Miley's wrist. Perfect size.

"Thank you!" Miley hugged her.

"You're welcome. Now let's find those earrings!"

---------

"Hey Kev," Denise said, getting her husband's attention. After Kevin Sr. dropped off Nick, he came home and turned on the TV, trying to ignore the problems with Columbia that they were having.

"Yeah?" he asked.

"What do you think about moving?"

"Honey, I really don't want to think about any more added stress right now. Besides, me and the boys are going to be gone a lot in the next few months trying to get signed again. I don't think now is the right time," he sighed, knowing his wife wanted a bigger house, where each of the boys could have their own room.

"I know. That's why I was thinking maybe California?" she suggested.

"What?" Kevin asked her as he turned around to really look at her.

"I mean, you boys are out there anyway, and we could keep the house here, maybe just rent out there for awhile. It would be cheaper than all the plane tickets," she started and realized he didn't have a convince look on his face. "Nevermind. It was silly. Forget it."

"No, Denise, I'm just thinking. That could work, and the boys would love it. You know how they hate long plane rides," he said, getting up and walked over to her. "I'm sorry about the way I've been lately."

"It's okay, I know it's stressful," she said, placing her hands behind his neck.

"It's no excuse. Let me look into rentals. Give me a week, and then we'll talk to the boys?" he asked, as if he needed permission from her.

"Okay," she said as she kissed his cheek. "Thank you."

---------

Billy Ray walked up the stairs and down the hall to Miley's room.

"Hey birthday girl," he said, walking in. "You ready?"

"Yup," Miley said, jumping up off her bed.

"I'm going to go ahead and go down, so you can have your big entrance," Brandi said and winked at her sister. "Don't trip!" she laughed.

"Thanks, jerk!" Miley called as Brandi walked out of the room.

"I can't believe you're 14, Miles. It seems like just yesterday--" he started.

"Yeah, I know, Dad. I get this every year. Blah, blah, blah, I was so cute, blah, blah, still your little girl, blah, blah, don't grow up too quickly. I know, Dad," Miley said, giving him the 'eye' and crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"Alright, you caught me," he said. "I'll leave so you can prepare yourself for your grand entrance."

"Thanks, Dad," she said.

"Happy birthday, sweetie," he said, hugging her tight and kissing the top of her head.

"Thanks, Dad," Miley said again, smiling this time. She really was pretty lucky to have the career she did, but even luckier to have the family that she did.

Her dad left and Miley got a little time to herself for the first time since she last talked to Nick. Oh, Nick. She skipped over to her computer and replayed the video of him singing to her, because of course she had saved it! She knew that after that, nothing could make this day any better.

Miley finally decided to go down to her party. She left her room and turned her lights off. She left her phone in her room because anyone she needed to talk to was at her house. She walked down the hallway and to the stairs. As she looked down, she felt a stinging in her eyes, but a good kind. All of her friends from the show were there, as well as other Disney stars, and her regular friends, too, as well as some from Tennessee that had flown out just for her.

She looked around and instead of streamers and balloons like so many parties before, small white and blue Christmas lights hung from everything. All the way down the banisters on the stairs, along the furniture, randomly hanging from the ceiling, everywhere. Miley walked down the stairs and everyone yelled "Happy Birthday Miley!" She replied with a simple "Thank you!"

As people started to get back to mingling after Miley got there, she also started greeting people and thanking them for coming. Ashley and Vanessa were there, with Zac in tow, which was a surprise because they had told her they couldn't.

"We just wanted to surprise you, girl!" said Ashley.

Emily, Mitchel, Jason, and everybody from the set was there. People who she used to go to school with, Lesley, Jessica, Martin, Tyler, and everyone else.

Miley was having a great time. Her mom had cooked some good country food, but bite sized pieces of cornbread, fried chicken, and things like that. Everything was beautiful.

"You having fun?" Braison came up behind her and asked.

"Hey, Brais. Yeah, I am. I can't believe all these people came," she stared at everyone in disbelief.

"You mean a lot to a bunch of people, Miles. Happy birthday," he said, half way hugging her. He was a sweet kid, and she knew he meant it, even though after he did that, he walked off like he didn't even know her. Just a regular 12 year old boy.

The doorbell rang shortly after that, but Miley didn't hear it. She was too busy dancing with her friends. Her father, on the other hand did hear it. Billy Ray went to the door and opened it. When he did, he almost fell over he was so surprised.

"Miley! MILEY!" he yelled over the crowd. "Look who came to see you!"

Miley was interested for sure, and tried as quickly as she could to get around everyone and get to the door. She had pretty much the same reaction as her father did. She just stared for a minute and then ran up to the boy that had come to wish her a happy birthday.

"Chris!" she squealed as she hugged him. "I didn't know you were coming!"

"I wasn't going to be able to, but my mom let me come. I had to beg, though," he said, grinning at her.

"I'm so glad you're here! Daddy! All of my brothers are here now!" Miley said, almost too excited to take any more.

"Oh my goodness! Chris, honey! How are you?" Tish asked as she walked up to him and hugged him and then took his coat from him. "You staying here tonight?"

"If that's alright with you," he said.

"Of course it is! Oh, I have to get a picture of this. Billy, go find Braison and Trace. I have to get a picture of all of them together!" she exclaimed and ran to get her camera.

Miley's dad came back with her other two brothers in tow and they all posed in front of the front door. Trace picked Miley up and held her sideways. She propped her head up on one arm while Braison grabbed her legs and Chris took her top third while Trace was in the middle. Tish snapped a few photos and had Billy Ray get in the picture as well. Just as Tish was getting done, the doorbell rang again.

"Now who is here to see _me_?" Miley asked excitedly, waving a hand in front of her face, acting like a true southern belle.

"I'll get it," said Braison, wanting to get away from his family as quickly as possible. He opened the door and stood there for a minute, trying to figure out who it was. He couldn't so he asked. "Who are you?"

"Is this Miley's house?" the boy asked.

"Uhh, yeah. Who are you?" Braison asked him again. By this point, the rest of them were curious as to who it was. Unfortunately, Billy Ray, Chris, and Trace all made it to the door before Miley did, and because they were all taller than her (except Braison of course) she couldn't see who it was. She knew, though as soon as she heard his voice, though.

"Hi. Uhh," he started, rubbing the back of his neck nervously, "I'm Nick Jonas," he finished, sticking his hand out to anyone who would shake it. The 4 men most important to Miley just stood and stared at him.

"Nick!" Miley yelled over her male relatives. This brought the men back to their senses and Billy Ray was the first to shake his hand.

"Good to see you again, Nick," Miley's father said, a little shocked and surprised by his presence. When he turned around, he could tell Miley was as well.

"Hey, I'm Chris," her half-brother said and stuck out his hand for Nick to shake.

"I'm Braison," her youngest brother said, without sticking his hand out. In part because he was young enough that he could still get away with not doing it, and in part because he wasn't sure about him yet, and as much crap as Braison gave Miley, he was quite protective.

Trace was the last to say anything. Being her older brother, he was _quite_ protective over her and didn't welcome too many boys into the house. However, Trace could see how excited Miley was to see him, so he figured since it _was_ her birthday, he'd give Nick the benefit of the doubt and let him in.

"I'm Trace. Miley's older brother," he said, with a firm grip on Nick's hand.

"Very nice to meet you," Nick replied, waiting to be asked in still.

"Nick! Come on in!" Miley said, walking up to him and shutting the door behind him. She took his coat and handed it to her mom. "Why are you here?" she asked, not able to stop smiling.

"I thought I should tell you happy birthday in person," he said, half way hugging her, not sure who was watching.

"Come here!" she squealed and pulled him in tighter. Her arms were up over his shoulders and wrapped around his neck with one hand in his hair. His hands were on her back, one between her shoulder blades and one in the middle, as he squeezed her a little. "I just don't understand. What are you doing here?"

"I told you I was going to fly tonight," he winked.

"But you said you weren't coming," Miley said, pouting a little that he had "lied" to her.

"I can go," he started to say and looked towards the door.

"Don't you dare," she said as she narrowed her eyes at him. "You are staying right here."

They walked into the living room and Nick was quite impressed with it all, but truthfully, so was Miley. This was the best birthday ever, for sure now. Nothing could get any better.

"So how'd you find my house?" Miley asked Nick.

"I have a photographic memory," he said, nonchalantly.

"Really?" she asked, a bit impressed.

"No. I took a cab from the airport and I had him drive all over until we found it," Nick said, looking down at the floor and then back up at her. She just smiled.

"Is this the famous Nick Jonas?" Emily came up behind Miley and asked, just staring at Nick.

"Well my name is Nick Jonas, but I don't know about the famous thing," he said, sticking out his hand for her to shake.

"You're famous around here!" Emily said, pulling him into a hug.

"What?" he asked a little confused.

"Nothing!" Miley said in a sing-song voice while smiling and turning to give Emily a dirty look. Then she turned around to Nick and laughed. He loved that laugh; it was so pure.

"Oh," Nick said, getting a little excited. "I have something for you, where's my coat?"

"In the guest room on the bed, come on, I'll show you," she said, grabbing his hand and leading him away from the party. However, they were stopped on their way there.

"Hey Miles! Oh, so this is Nick?" Brandi asked, looking him over.

"Yes, Brandi, this is Nick. Nick, this is my older sister Brandi," Miley said, slightly annoyed and regretting making him such a big deal to everyone.

"Nice to meet you," Nick said as he stuck out his hand.

"You, too," Brandi said, shaking it. Miley looked at her, waiting for her to leave them alone. "Oh, okay, umm, I think I need to go help Mom in the kitchen."

"Sorry about that," Miley apologized. "I don't know why they all know you," she said and rolled her eyes, a little nervously.

"I think I have an idea why. Probably the same reason my family would do the same thing to you," Nick said, smiling down at her.

When they were away from all the noise, with the door open of course, Nick found his jacket and pulled out a small stuffed frog with a crown on it.

"Happy birthday. I know it's not much, but there wasn't a whole lot to choose from at the airport," Nick said, now a little bashful that he didn't have more for her.

"Nick, it's great," Miley said taking it from him. "Thank you so much!" She hugged the little frog. "I'm going to name you Prince."

"Like the singer?" Nick laughed.

"Like Prince Charming, maybe?" Miley laughed with him.

"Now I'm a little jealous," he said.

"Awww, do you want a hug, too,?" she playfully asked him, opening her arms.

"Well that," he said, leaning into her for another hug, "and I thought _I _was going to be your Prince Charming."

"You are," Miley said, laying her head on his shoulder. "You are."

---------

A little while later, Nick and Miley had returned to the party which was in full swing. Everyone was dancing and having a great time, and Miley had heard 'Happy birthday, Miley' about a million times. It was only going to get worse.

"Hey everybody!" Billy Ray called as he wheeled in a table with a huge cake on it. "How about we all sing a very special song to a very special girl?"

Everyone started cheering, some for Miley, some for the cake. Tish created a small circle where her and the rest of the family was close by, and there was enough room that people could take pictures as Miley stood in front of the cake.

"1, 2, 3," Brandi started. "Happy birthday to you." Then everyone joined in.

"Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday, dear Miley, happy birthday to you," all of her friends sang to her.

"Make a wish!" she heard someone call out. She thought about something to wish for, and as she blew out the candles, she knew she didn't have to wish for anything. Looking up at everyone at her party, everyone who cared about her and who she cared about, all there for her; she knew she couldn't have wished for anything else.

---------

By 1 am everyone had left except Emily, who was sleeping over. Nick had gotten a room at a hotel about 10 minutes away and he was planning on spending the day with her tomorrow on set, to get the feel of all of it and then he was going back.

"Happy birthday to me," Miley said exhaustedly as she threw herself onto the floor.

"It's not your birthday anymore, you know," Emily said as she brushed through her hair standing in front of Miley's full length mirror on her closet door.

"Shut up, it is if I say it is," Miley joked as she slowly got up and walked up behind Emily. She put stuck her arms straight out and propped them up on either side of Emily's head on her shoulders. "Thank you," she said, as she laid her head on Emily's.

"For what?"

"For always being there for me."

"Of course," Emily responded. She turned around and hugged her friend tightly. "Happy birthday."

"Thanks. I'm going to bed," Miley said, pulling away and climbing into bed.

"Scoot over," Emily said as she crawled in next to her. They lied there for a few minutes in silence until Emily finally spoke up. "So Nick, huh?"

"Yeah. I don't know what it is, Emily. You know how I'm outgoing most of the time and I get nervous around someone I like? Well I really like Nick, but I don't get as nervous. And I don't _always_ feel stupid when I say something to him, even if it _is_ stupid," Miley smiled.

"He's pretty great for you."

"I know. It's pretty crazy. Never in a million years would I think that I could have met someone like him so soon in my life."

"What are you going to marry the kid or something?"

"Em," Miley said, sitting up. "You know what I mean. He's just, well, great."

"But so are you, Miley, and you deserve it."

With that, Miley and Emily both quieted down and soon fell asleep.

---------

The girls woke up pretty early to get to set on time and Billy Ray stopped by Nick's hotel to pick him up as well. Nick was excited to get to be on a real Hollywood set. It made him want to possibly do more than just sing, but that was a long way off.

Every break that Miley got she was with Nick, instead of the rest of the cast like she usually was. She showed him around and he 'helped' her run her lines, even though she didn't need much help.

When they were done filming for the day, Billy Ray took Miley _and _Nick back to the house, since his plane didn't leave for another 2 hours. He got a chance to hang out with her whole family, all 6 kids and her parents. Unfortunately, he was only able to be there for an hour and then Tish took Nick and Miley to the airport.

Miley didn't want him to go, but she knew he had to. Nick didn't really want to leave either, but he kind of missed his family. He had never traveled alone before and it was strange for him.

"Thank you so much for coming, Nick. You have no idea how much it means to me," Miley said hugging him.

"I think I have an idea," he said, smiling at her.

"When's the next time you're in town?" she asked him.

"I'm not sure. I'll let you know, though," he told her.

"Okay. Call me when you get home."

"I will," Nick said to Miley. "Thank you so much for everything, Mrs. Cyrus!" Nick called to Tish.

"No problem, sweetie. You're welcome back any time!" Tish said, truly meaning it.

"Thanks!" he said, waving to her. Then he grabbed Miley's hand and squeezed a little. "Don't forget about me."

"It's not possible," she said, remembering that he had said the same thing to her just a day ago.

Nick walked down the terminal and turned around one last time to wave to Miley and her mom. They waved back and when he turned the corner, Miley hugged her mom.

"I don't want him to go, Mom," she said, starting to tear up.

"You'll be able to see him soon enough, Miley. Let's go home," she suggested.

"Okay. And Mom?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for an amazing birthday."


	8. Chapter 8

Sorry again, guys, this is mostly a JB chapter again, but Miley is at the end, I promise! I hope you guys are liking my story so far! Please review and send suggestions if you have any! Love you guys!

December 14, 2006

The Jonas boys were all out shopping, all 4 of them, at the mall, getting ready for Christmas. They had to walk around in beanies and clothes that they normally wouldn't be in so that they wouldn't be mauled. Even little Frankie. The Jonas Brother may not have been very successful for Columbia, or anywhere else in the country, but in New Jersey, they were gods.

"So what are we going to get for Mom?" Frankie asked his brothers.

"Are we doing one big present again, or should we each get her something?" Nick then asked.

"I don't know, maybe we should just look around and see what we find," Kevin suggested.

"We should send her and Dad on a hot air balloon ride," Joe suggested.

"Cool!" yelled Frankie.

"That is a decent idea, Joseph. Good job," Kevin said, seriously but sarcastically, patting his brother on the back.

"I do my best," Joe said, putting a hand over his heart.

"What are you getting AJ?" Kevin asked Joe.

"I don't know if I should get her anything, you know?" Joe said.

"Why? You are obviously together," Nick said.

"Why is it so obvious?" Joe stopped walking and asked his brothers.

"Because your tongue is always halfway down her throat," Kevin said, pushing past his brother and moving on.

"It is not!" Joe said, pouting.

"Okay, it might be a _little _less than halfway, but it's there," Nick joked.

"Oh yeah? Well what's up with you and Miley? What are you getting her?" Joe asked, getting the subject off of him.

"Well, we're not together, _obviously_," Nick laughed, "but I feel like I should get her something. You know," he paused, "just as a friend."

"Is _that_ what you guys are, friends?" Kevin asked, jokingly.

"We haven't really discussed it," Nick started to say.

"What!? You guys haven't had a DTR?" Joe exclaimed.

"A what?" Nick asked, confused.

"A DTR! Determine the relationship? You have no idea what I'm talking about do you?" Joe said.

"No clue, but no, we haven't talked about it."

"Do you want to figure it out?" Kevin asked Nick.

"I'm not sure, I do, but at the same time, I don't want to find out that she doesn't like me," Nick said, a little nervous even saying it.

"You're going to have to find out eventually," Kevin told him.

"I know. Let's just figure out what we're getting Mom," Nick said, leading Frankie into a store where Kevin and Joe followed.

At the end of the day, they still had found nothing for their mother, or their dad, but they had however, bought themselves a few new pairs of shoes, Nick got a pair of jeans and some shirts, Joe got some new hats and a jacket, and Kevin got 2 new scarves. They bought Frankie a shirt as well and an ice cream to keep him happy for the rest of the shopping trip.

When they got home, they unloaded everything and went their separate ways. Joe went into the game room to talk to AJ on the phone, Kevin went to his room to work on some new music, Frankie went into the living room to play on the PlayStation and Nick went to his and Joe's room, thankful that Joe wasn't in there. Nick hadn't talked to Miley in a few days, so he decided to call her.

"Hello?" she answered.

"Hey you, what's up?" Nick asked her.

"Not too much. What about you?"

"Pretty much the same. We just got back from Christmas shopping."

"What'd you buy me?" she asked, sarcastically of course.

"Nothing. We bought things for ourselves," Nick said, laughing.

"Well someone is selfish," Miley joked.

"I gotta look good, babe," Nick said, immediately regretting calling her babe.

"You already look good," Miley said, his pet name for her not even causing her to miss a beat.

"Well thank you, Miss Miley."

"When's the next time you're in town?" she asked hurriedly.

"I don't know for sure," he said, even though he knew exactly when they were getting there. He was quite interested in trips to LA since he had met her. "I think sometime next week, though."

"Good. I haven't seen you since my birthday party and I miss you!" she said.

"Oh yeah?" Nick said in a flirty voice.

"Of course! And your brothers, too. It's been even longer since I've seen them!" she told him.

"Speaking of my brothers," he started and then wished he hadn't. He didn't want her to know that he talked to his brothers about her. But now he had to finish. "We were talking about you today."

"Oh yeah? What about?"

"They asked me what I was getting you for Christmas," he said, and again regretted it. Why was he saying these things.

"And?" Miley waited.

"And I told them that I didn't know," Nick said, trying to wrap up the conversation. He didn't want to ask her now.

"Okay?" Miley said, wondering why he had said all that. "Nick, are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry about it," he said, his voice shaking a little.

"Nicholas," she warned.

"What are we?" Nick said quickly, before he could go back and change his mind about asking her.

"What?" Miley asked, shocked.

"Never mind," Nick said quietly.

"No, I just didn't hear you," she lied.

"I asked what we are."

"Well, I mean, we're friends, right?"

"Right, but I mean, what's going on with us?"

"What do you want us to be?" she asked him.

"I want, well, I guess I want whatever you want," he said, trying to make her not so nervous.

"Well, I mean, Nick, I just, I really like you, it's just that--"

"Yeah?" Nick asked.

"I mean, I think that we should just stay friends for right now. I don't want to ruin this," she said, wishing she didn't have to, but she knew that it was for the best.

"Okay," Nick said, trying not to sound hurt.

"Nick, I'm sorry. I just have a lot of my plate right now, and you will very soon and I don't think it would be fair for us," she said, trying to make him feel better, and convince herself that this was what was right.

"No, Miley, it's totally fine. That's what I was kind of thinking, too," he lied. "I just wanted to know how you felt about it."

"Yeah," she said after a few moments of silence.

"So…" Nick said after a few more.

"Well, call me sometime, Nick. Let me know when you are in town," she said, not wanting to sit in an awkward silence.

"Okay. I will for sure," he said, wanting to get off the phone as well.

"Talk to you then," she said quietly.

"Alright. Bye."

"Bye," she said.

He was taken aback by this because she usually left with 'Tootles!' in a happy voice but this time it was all different. He was worried that he had upset her, and that's the last thing he wanted to do.

---------

Downstairs, completely unbeknownst to the 4 brothers, Mr. and Mrs. Jonas were in the kitchen discussing California again.

"I really like this one, Kevin," Denise said, picking out one of the many printed out pieces of paper that had houses and information on them. "It has a pool which will be great for the boys, and they'll each have their own room. Honey, I think this is the one."

"Really? Because it's in the city and you said you didn't really want to be that close to everything," Kevin said.

"But it will be better for you guys being closer to everything. And this neighborhood looks really nice, it's gated and the houses are far enough away from each other that we won't hear everything going on inside," she smiled. Kevin knew that this was it. She had made up her mind and she'd make every argument in the book just to move here.

"I can't believe we're really moving," Kevin said, placing a hand over his wife's.

"We're moving!" Frankie screamed, completely horrified by the idea. Kevin Sr. and Denise just looked at each other, wondering what to do now.

They didn't have long to think, though. Frankie had run off and told his brothers already. All 4 of them rushed down the stairs and into the kitchen. Out of breath, they all tried to speak at the same time.

"Whoa. One at a time. Kevin go," Denise said.

"I don't know what you think you are doing," he started, raising his voice. "We've lived here our whole lives and everything has been fine. We don't want to move away from our friends. This is our home!"

"Joe," Denise allowed her next son to speak.

"This is ridiculous. I don't care where we are moving to, I'm not going. I'll just stay here," Joe said, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I really don't want to move, either, Mom. This is home, it always has been and I don't think it's fair for you to ask us to give that up," Nick said, more calmly than his brothers.

"I don't want to go!" Frankie yelled again, and started to cry.

"May I speak now?" Kevin Sr. asked his boys, and his wife. When there was no objection, he started. "I understand that you all are upset about this. But it wouldn't have to be permanent. We'd just be renting a house out there and still keeping this one here since it's already paid off."

"Where are we moving to anyway?" Joe said, still upset.

"California. Los Angeles, to be more specific. We think that it will be easier for you boys so you're not on a plane all the time, back and forth. If we're going to do this, we've really got to do this, boys," Denise told them. "Just take a look at the house."

The boys were reluctant, but if they were still going to have a house in New Jersey, it wasn't so bad. And they really did need to be in California. As soon as they saw the house, though, they were sold on the idea.

"A pool!" Joe said.

"Look at the size of the living room!" said Kevin.

"They have a swing set!" yelled Frankie.

"We'll have our own rooms," Nick breathed.

"Yes, yes, yes, and yes," said Denise. "But if you guys really don't want to move, we'll understand," she started to say.

"Who said we didn't want to go!" smiled Kevin.

"It wasn't me!" called out Joe.

"I guess we're going, then?" Nick looked up at his parents.

"Well, we've already called the landlord and she said she'd hold it until we can come out and look at it. When we go out there for our meetings we can look at it then," Kevin Sr. told them.

"This is awesome!" Joe yelled and started running around the room. "Frank! We're going to California!" Joe then grabbed his youngest brother and spun him around. Kevin, Nick, and their parents just stood and watched the two and laughed. Kevin ran over to Nick and tried to do the same.

"Don't even think about it," Nick warned.

"Too bad!" Kevin said, pretending to walk away and turning back around and flinging Nick up over his shoulder.

"Boys! You're going to break something!" Denise said.

"Sorry, Mom," Kevin said, putting Nick down. Joe flung Frankie, who was still giggling uncontrollably, down on the couch in the living room.

"I'm glad you're all excited about it," Kevin Sr. told them. Just as he finished his sentence, the phone rang.

"Hello?" Denise asked when she picked up. "Yeah, he's right here, hang on just a second," she said as she covered the phone with her hand. "It's David."

The boys knew what that meant. David from Columbia, and they were praying that it wasn't a bad call, but at this point, they all knew it would be.

"Hey, Dave!" Kevin Sr. said into the phone. "Yeah, yeah, we're coming out next Tuesday for the meeting," he paused, they assumed that David was speaking on the other end. "Oh, well, I'm sure we could…yeah, I understand…okay, I could…yeah, I'll call you back in a little bit," he said and hung up the phone.

"What's up?" Nick asked his dad after no one else said anything.

"David wants us out there tomorrow," Kevin Sr. told his boys slowly. He looked to Denise for some support that everything would be okay, but she sat down at the kitchen table and put her face in her hands.

"Why?" Kevin asked after another period of silence.

"I don't know, guys. I really don't know. Do you want to go?"

"Do we have a choice?" Joe asked, obviously upset.

"Not really. I could go with out you, but…" Kevin Sr. said.

"Not a chance. We're going, Dad," the eldest son said.

"Alright. Go pack. I'll call the airport," their dad told them. The three boys sulked up the stairs, hoping that this wasn't the end of the road for them. Frankie pouted on the couch.

"What's wrong, honey," Denise came up to him and asked as her husband picked up the phone.

"They always get to go! I thought I was going to get to go next time!" Frankie said, trying not to cry.

"Well, let's see. How about you go get your suitcases out of your closet and set them out on your bed and I'll come up and help you pack."

"I can go?" Frankie said, his eyes lighting up.

"Yep, we'll both go," Denise said, getting excited herself. Frankie hugged his mom and ran up the stairs to his room. Denise stood up and turned to her husband.

"Yeah, 4 tickets to LA," he said into the receiver.

"Make it 6," Denise called to him and winked. He smiled.

"I'm sorry, yes, 6 tickets to LA. Thank you so much," he said and hung up the phone. He hugged his wife and held her. "I just want the boys to be happy."

"I do, too. They're going to do this, Kev. Don't worry. They will," she said, a little unsure herself, but never letting off that she was.

---------

"Miss Hannah Montana!" said Edward, the vice-president of Disney.

"Hey, Eddie!" she said, walking into his office. "What'd you need?" Miley was on a first name basis with most of the company, since she had been spending more and more time with them. Hannah Montana was the most watched show in the country, after all.

"I just wanted to talk to you about the show," Eddie said, smiling at her and her father.

"Hope you're not canceling, us, bud," said Billy Ray.

"Not a chance!" Eddie laughed. "I was actually wanting to ask Miley some things that she'd like to do. Themes and what not."

"Really?" Miley asked, a bit surprised.

"Of course! It is your show, after all," he said.

"Alright, I'd really like to do something like having a villain type person. Someone who Hannah would compete with, but also someone who would challenge Miley. Not sure how that would fit in, but I think it would work if we could do it," Miley suggested.

"Good, good. What about guest appearances? Who would you like to work with?" Eddie asked her, getting a notebook out to write all this down in.

"JESSE MCCARTNEY!" she squealed.

"Alright," Eddie laughed, pretending to readjust his hearing. "Anybody else?"

"Umm, I'd really like to have Miley Stewart's mom on at some point. I think it's important to the show to have Miley interact with her. Maybe someone famous, but I don't know who," Miley said.

"I'll work on it. What about other musicians that you would like to work with?"

"I'd love it if Dolly could be on again. I love her. And Reba would be cool! Ashlee Simpson would be fun to work with, too. Maybe Christina?" Miley suggested, getting more and more excited.

"That's great. I was thinking more about boys, though. Just for a little flirtation for Hannah, or Miley."

"Oh, umm, well," Miley thought for a minute.

"Bud, what about…" Billy Ray started and looked at his daughter. She knew what he was going to say.

"The Jonas Brothers!" she yelled.

"The who?" Eddie asked, obviously unfamiliar with the group.

"The Jonas Brothers. They just did this new music video for a song called "Year 3000". Their single was "Mandy" and it was on TRL," she went on.

"Are they signed?"

"Columbia," Miley said, hoping that it wouldn't affect anything.

"Oh, well, we might be able to work something out," Eddie said, unconvincing.

"Please, Eddie. They are great guys and I'm really good friends with them. Just listen to their stuff. Give them a chance, please!" Miley begged. Eddie smiled at her.

"Okay, okay," he said, putting his hands up. "I'll check it out."

"Thanks!" Miley said, getting up to shake his hand.

"Come on, now," he smiled at her and got up as well. He came around from his desk and she skipped over to him and gave him a hug.

"Really, Eddie, it would mean a lot to them if you called them, and to me," she smiled up at him. He had become somewhat of an uncle to her since she'd been at Disney.

"I'll do whatever I can to work it out, Miley," he said.

When her and her dad left, Billy Ray asked her if she really wanted to work with them.

"Oh, Daddy, I do! They are hilarious and great and I think that it would be a lot of fun," Miley said, with a little hop in her step as they walked to the car.

"You mean Nick is hilarious and great and--" he started to say.

"They all are, Dad. I mean it. Be nice," she warned and pointed a finger at him.

"I just don't want to see you--"

"Get hurt, I know, Daddy. Stop worrying about me. You can't hurt someone you're not with, right?" Miley said with a smile, although on the inside, she was a little bitter.


	9. Chapter 9

Sorry it's been so long since the last update. I've been really sick lately and just sleeping a lot. Make sure you read the note at the end! Thanks guys!

December 16, 2006

The Jonas family had left to go to California. The boys had their meeting and Denise and Frankie went out to explore the city some more. Columbia told them that they were basically done. They had to sign this, and sign that, authorize tons of paperwork, and by January 3, after all the paperwork had been processed and filed, they would officially not have a label. The boys were quite upset, but their dad just kept telling them to stay optimistic. Something good was bound to happen, especially now that they were in California.

That was yesterday. Today, however, Denise convinced her boys, husband included, that today would be a better day. They were going to look at their house that they hopefully would be able to rent and get moved in after the new year. The 2 older brothers got a funny feeling that they had been here before, but couldn't remember from when. Nick, however, knew as soon as they reached the gates to the neighborhood.

"It's wonderful to meet all of you! Thank you so much for coming!" said Maggie, their real-estate agent after they had pulled up to the house and gotten out of the car.

"No! Thank _you_ so much for meeting us on such short notice!" Denise replied, shaking Maggie's hand. The rest of the family did the same.

"I'm just glad to be showing this house to a family! So many kids now-a-days are buying these houses and it's so hard working with them!" Maggie said, laughing.

"I'm sure," Kevin Sr. replied.

"Come on! I wanna see my new room!" Frankie yelled.

"Alright, then! Let's go inside!" Maggie exclaimed.

"Oh my," Denise said as her breath caught in her throat as Maggie unlocked and opened the front door. The living room was 2 stories in itself with vaulted ceilings and huge windows. The stairs were wide and beautiful and a banister that went all the way along one wall exposed the second floor and the doors of each of the boys' bedrooms. The pictures from the internet didn't do the house justice. It was magnificent.

The brothers walked in after their parents and they were all impressed as well. Joe ran to the middle of the living room and yelled "Hello!" It echoed and Frankie thought it was the funniest thing ever. As he giggled, Joe picked him up and spun him around, both laughing at this point.

"Don't even think about it," Nick warned Kevin as he looked at his little brother.

"Don't worry, I won't," Kevin replied and walked forward. However, he was taken by surprise when Nick landed on his back and took him to the ground.

"Frobro strikes again!" Nick yelled in victory as he got off of Kevin.

"You're ridiculous," Kevin said, but laughing. Joe put Frankie down finally and it took the both of them a minute to get their balance.

Maggie had already taken their parents into the kitchen, which was right off of the living room. A huge fridge and endless cabinets with a large extended island in the middle with 6 barstools adorned the kitchen and the space for 6 made it all that more appealing.

"That door is for the pantry, and that one is to the garage," Maggie said, pointing at the 2 doors.

"How many cars can fit in it?" Joe asked excitedly.

"Three," Maggie said.

"Yes! I can finally get a car!" Joe exclaimed.

"I don't think so. Somebody that has their drivers license should have the car, don't you think you little test failer," Kevin said, ruffling Joe's hair.

"Shut up," Joe said and walked back into the living room. He looked to the staircase and saw a door on either side. "What are these to?" he asked Maggie as she walked into the living room with the rest of the family.

"The one on the left is the master bedroom. The one on the right is an extra room. The last occupants used it as a game room, since it's bigger than all the others," she told them.

"My room!" Kevin called.

"No. There are 4 rooms upstairs for each of you. That will be your music room," Denise informed them.

"Cool!" Nick said, walking in that direction. He walked in and already started picturing where he would put his piano, and how they would display their guitars. Where he'd put his drums and as he looked at the blank walls, he couldn't wait to paint them and put up his and his brothers' favorite lyrics from their songs and others. He hoped that soon, however, the walls would have some big gold records in frames on them, but that was a long way off right now considering that they didn't have a record deal anymore.

"You're excited, aren't you?" Kevin asked his brother, putting an arm around his shoulder.

"Very," Nick said.

"Boys! You can go upstairs and see your rooms now. Don't you dare claim them, though. We'll figure that out later," Denise told her boys as the 4 of them raced up the stairs.

Three doors faced them as the got to the top of the steps. Then down the small hallways that were visible in the living room with a banister on one side, one room was to the left and one was to the right. The one right in the middle was their bathroom, which was rather large.

They entered the first room which was the middle left one. It was huge! It had 2 medium sized windows and a big closet. Kevin claimed it and Joe said that he couldn't, "'cause Mom said!"

The other middle room was a bit smaller, but still with a large closet and the same windows. The next room to the right was smaller still, but had windows on 2 walls and a smaller closet.

Finally, the last room they looked at was all the way to the left, the door mostly hidden by the opposite wall. It was the smallest of the 4, the closest wasn't as big, but the windows were a little bigger than in the other rooms. Nick walked in and looked out the window. This would be his room, he decided.

The boys came back downstairs with smiles on their faces. Denise and Kevin Sr. smiled as well when they saw how pleased the boys were with the house. Denise then turned to Maggie.

"We want it," she said.

"Great!" Maggie said, pulling a folder out of her briefcase. "Now would you be renting this or putting a down payment on it?"

"I didn't realize we had the option of buying it," Kevin Sr. replied.

"Yes, you can. Of course, I'm fine with whatever you are."

"Well, I think we'll just rent for awhile, and then we can talk it over and decide if we'd like to buy it," Denise said, looking at her husband for approval. He nodded.

"Alright then. Just a few things. You won't be able to paint anything while you are renting, but once it's yours, you can do whatever you want with it. Also, You won't be able to move in until February since you'll be renting. I'll need to get some things taken care of before you move in," Maggie told them.

"Mom, tell her we want to buy it!" Joe harshly whispered in his mother's ear.

"Hush, Joe," Denise said, trying to pay attention as Maggie continued.

"We want it, Mom! This is it!" Nick said.

"Boys!" Denise hushed them.

"Denise, maybe we should--?" Kevin Sr. started to say.

"Enough!" Denise yelled as she held her hand up. "Maggie, I'm sorry. I guess we'll be putting a down payment on the house."

"That's wonderful!" Maggie said. "I'll let you all explore a little more. I'll call my office and have someone run over the paperwork. We can have the house finalized by the first of the year if you sign today.

"Great, thank you," Kevin Sr. responded as his kids took off again, this time to explore the backyard and the pool.

After Maggie had gone into the next room, Denise went to the door and called her sons inside.

"Boys, now we need to figure out room situations," she said. "I'll number the rooms from left to right and we'll go through from oldest to youngest and tell me which room you would like to have, okay? If someone has the same number, we'll figure it out from there."

"I want number 2," Kevin said.

"Three," Joe replied.

"One," Nick said.

"Are you sure? It's the smallest room, Nick?" Denise asked him.

"I'm sure," he said.

"I want number four, then!" Frankie yelled.

"Oh my goodness, Kev. It's a miracle. Our boys don't want the same thing for once in their lives!" Denise said sarcastically.

"It must be a sign that this is it," her husband said, kissing the top of her head.

"Gross!" said Joe. "I'm going up to my room!"

The rest of the boys followed him up to their respected rooms. Nick walked into his and again over to the window. Being on top of a hill, the house overlooked the whole one side of the neighborhood. One house in particular caught his attention earlier when he walked in. It was mostly his reason for picking this room. As he looked at the houses that lined his new street, he couldn't help but smile. Three houses down from his he could see into a room, one that was blue and had white curtains, and from what he could see, a guitar. He knew it was hers. This room couldn't have been more perfect.

---------

Nick had called Miley later on that day to let her know that he was free if she was. She was on set, but they weren't too busy, so she invited him and his brothers over.

When they arrived, Miley was dressed up as Hannah, doing a concert scene. After she was done, she came over to the boys and gave them all hugs. Joe almost couldn't pull himself off of her for a second or two.

"Oh hey, AJ!" Kevin called.

"What?!" Joe jumped off of Miley. Nick and Kevin just laughed as Joe blushed and then got mad.

"So have you guys had a good trip out here so far? I didn't know you were coming out this soon!" Miley said.

"We had to come out for an emergency meeting with Columbia," Kevin said. The brothers all got down looks on their faces. The excitement of the house had made them forget about the whole reason they had to make the trip in the first place.

"How'd that go?" Miley asked, sticking a grape in her mouth.

"They dropped us," Nick said.

"I'm so sorry, guys! That's terrible!"

"It's alright, we're getting through. We'll find something else," Nick said, trying to be strong for his brothers, even though he was hurting the most out of all of them.

"Speaking of something else," Miley started to say as she got the boys attention, "I talked to a friend about you guys."

"Umm, okay?" Joe said. "Is she a fan?"

"No," Miley laughed. "I meant, a good friend. One that can help you guys?"

"Really? Who?" Kevin asked.

"Well, his name is Eddie, well, I guess Edward, but I call him Eddie. Anyway, he's got some pretty good connections," she smiled.

"Like what?" Nick asked anxiously.

"Like he's the vice president of Disney," she paused, "And Hollywood Records," Miley smiled.

"What! Cool!" said Joe, shoving a handful of chips into his face. His brothers just looked at him, amazed that he could do that, and at how rude it was.

"Thank you so much!" Kevin said, returning his gaze back to Miley and placing a hand on her arm.

"Yeah, thanks Miles," Nick said.

"Miles? You have a nickname for her?" Joe laughed. Kevin hit his arm and Nick blushed.

"Everybody calls me Miles, Joe. You're just not in the club," Miley laughed when she saw Joe's surprised expression.

"You're a witty one, aren't you? Almost as good as me. What's a boy to do?"

"I don't know, you tell me, smarty-pants!" Miley said, sticking her tongue out at him.

"Well then, I may just have to marry you," Joe said as he swiped her off the ground and carried her around bridal style.

"Joe! Put me down!" she shrieked. "Nick! Help me!"

"I'll save you fair maiden!" Nick said in the burliest, manliest voice he could muster and pretended to pull a sword out of his pants and charge Joe. Nick poked Joe in the side with his finger, and that was all it took. Joe busted out laughing; it was his most ticklish spot and Nick knew that. Joe dropped Miley and she barely caught her balance, with Nick there to catch her of course. "You okay?" he asked her.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she replied, tucking a strand of blonde wig behind her ear.

"That wig makes you look funny," he told her.

"Thanks, jerk," she said, lightly hitting him on the arm. "What's that?" she asked him as she hit something hard on the back of his arm.

"Nothing. An arm band thing," he said, not wanting to explain everything to her.

"Okay," Miley said.

"I'm sorry about Joe. He just needs some extra attention someti--" he started before he was pummeled to the ground by a flying brother. Joe had gotten a running start and grabbed Nick's legs as he dived in for the kill. Kevin just stood and watched the whole scene, laughing continuously.

"And little man is down for the count!" Joe yelled.

"Come on guys, let's be mature," Kevin said, trying to hold in his laugh. Nick got up and brushed himself off.

"Well guys, I gotta go shoot something really quick. You can hang out here if you want. Help yourselves to as much food as you want. Oh, and you guys should try those marshmallow puffs over there! They taste like nutty bars!" Miley told them as she walked away and onto the set. They could still see her from where they were so they sat down at one of the tables.

"Joe, that's disgusting," Kevin said as he watched Joe pile up a plateful of junk food.

"Oh my gosh," he said after tasting the marshmallow thing, "you guys gotta try these!"

The other 2 brothers got up and put some food on a plate.

"Watch it there, Nick," Kevin said.

"I'm not a baby, Kev. I can handle it. I'll just adjust it later," Nick said, referring to the device on his arm.

"Why don't you adjust it now?"

"Miley doesn't need to know. No one really needs to know. I'm fine," Nick said, raising his eyebrows at his brother, signaling for him to stop pestering him.

"Fine, whatever," Kevin said as he and Nick walked back over to the table with Joe and started eating.

An hour later, the boys had finished their plates, Joe had gone back for a second, of course, and Miley was done for awhile longer. Her dad and Jason were shooting a scene, so she had some downtime. Thankfully, she took off her wig first and pulled her hair back into a ponytail, a few stray curls hanging down.

"Wow, Joe, you can really put some down, can't ya, bud?" she asked him, her southern accent coming out more and more as she got more comfortable with the three of them.

"I try," Joe replied, patting his stomach.

Miley and the three Jonas brothers sat and talked for awhile, about nothing really, just funny stories and such. Soon, however, Eddie came around the corner with a smile on his face.

"Miley!" he called out to her.

"Eddie!" she called back, running up to him and giving him a big hug. The boys all got excited looks on their faces, hoping it was the same Eddie Miley had been talking about earlier. "Hey guys!" Miley said as she walked over to them with her older friend. "This is Eddie, the guy I was telling you about. Eddie, these are the Jonas Brothers, Kevin, Joe, and Nick," she said, introducing them all.

"Very nice to meet you all," Eddie said as he stuck his hand out for the boys to shake. Each one did so with a replies of happiness to meet him as well. "So I hear you all are a band? Eddie smiled.

"Yeah, I play guitar, Joe sings, and Nick plays guitar and sings," Kevin said. "He plays piano, too."

"Well aren't you just super-brother?" Eddie asked Nick.

"I just love music, sir," Nick said nervously. Miley had noticed that anytime Nick met someone new he was pretty nervous, except when he had met her. Coincidence?

"I hear you all are in town with you parents?" Eddie asked.

"How'd you know that?" Joe asked, bewildered.

"Miley called me earlier," Eddie explained.

"Yeah, we came in for a meeting," Nick said, immediately regretting it.

"I see. Well, I'd really love to meet with your boys and your manager. Maybe we can work something out since you'll be free soon," smiled the older man.

"How'd you know that?" Joe asked with a strange look on his face.

"I told you I talked to Miley. Don't you boys know by now that she can't keep a secret?" Eddie laughed, as well as everyone else. "But here's my number," he said, giving Kevin a business card. "Give me a call sometime soon. I promise I'll make it worth it."

"Thank you so much! We look forward to seeing you," Kevin said as he shook Eddie's hand. Kevin was always the fill in manager when their dad wasn't there. Being the oldest, he was the one his dad could trust the most for relaying information _correctly_.

Joe and Nick shook Eddie's hand as well and he left. Miley just had a smile on her face. She loved helping people, but for these guys it was different. She felt the need to. Something compelled her to.

"So what are you guys still in town for anyway? Not that I mind, but I would have gone home!" Miley said.

"This is home now, dearie," Joe said.

"What?" Miley asked, confused.

"We're, uhh, moving here. Mom and Dad bought a house this, this, morning," Nick told her nervously.

"You're kidding me! That's awesome! Now we can hang out all the time," Miley said to the brothers, but looking at Nick. "Where is the house?"

"What's the street called again? Pasadena? Pala-something?" Kevin tried to come up with the name.

"Palos Buenos?" Miley exclaimed.

"Yeah, that's it," Kevin replied, only to be cut off by Miley's high pitched "EEEP!"

"What?" Joe asked. Nick blushed.

"That's my street!" she said. Then they all realized that that's why they recognized the area, they just hadn't passed Miley's house, they had gone up a different way around the circle drive.

"Oh yeah! That's right!" Nick said, trying to pretend he didn't know. Miley gave him a look like _'yeah right, you knew'_ and he blushed again and looked at the ground.

"This is going to be so cool guys!" Miley said, grabbing all of them in a group hug. "I can't wait!"

Joe looked at Nick and he looked like he was going to be sick. Then Joe realized that he didn't want Miley to know just yet that they had moved here, but the damage was done and his younger brother would just have to get over it. Not much they could do about it now.

"When I get done here, we'll go over to the house and see it!" Miley said, still very excited.

"Actually, they locked it back up. We don't get the keys until January," Kevin said.

"Oh, well, that's okay. I've got to get back on the set, but you guys are welcome to stay," she suggested, seeing that her dad and Jason were waiting for her.

"Thanks anyway, but I think we're gonna go ahead and go. It's been a long day," Nick said, wanting to get out of there. Joe was about to protest when Nick gave him a glare and Joe closed his mouth.

"Thank you so much for everything, Miley. We really couldn't thank you enough," Kevin said, hugging her.

"No thanks is necessary. Just don't forget about me when you're big and famous," she winked.

"Who could forget about you, crazy?" Joe asked, being the next one to hug her.

"I could think of one person," Miley said, narrowing her eyes at Nick.

"Not possible," he whispered in her ear when he hugged her. It lasted longer than it probably should have, but neither one noticed. When Nick pulled away she whispered for him to call her tomorrow. He nodded in agreement.

The boys left the set and as soon as they were out of the building, Nick punched Joe hard in the arm.

"What was that for?" Joe asked, looking agitated at his brother.

"For being an idiot," Nick said, storming off to the rental car. He sat in the back, not wanting to fight with Joe for the front. Kevin got in and turned on the car.

"What's his problem?" Joe whispered to Kevin from the passenger's seat.

"I don't know. Do you think he doesn't want to move?" Kevin whispered back.

"I don't think so. Maybe it's Miley."

"You think she doesn't like him?"

"Guys!" Nick yelled from the back. "Either get better at whispering or stop talking about me!"

The 2 older brothers looked back at him for a second only to see him buckled up, but limply leaning on the door. He looked absolutely pitiful.

"Let's just get back," Kevin said in a normal tone. No one responded. The rest of the car ride was silent. When they got back to the hotel, Nick dragged himself inside and right to his bed that he shared with Frankie. He took his shirt off and climbed under the covers and drifted off to sleep. When his mom tried to wake him up a few hours later for dinner, he told her he didn't want any. After they left, he ordered room service and got a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. He ate half of it and felt sick, so he got back under the covers and went back to sleep. Frankie didn't sleep in bed with Nick that night, because he was afraid he would catch whatever he had, so Frankie slept on the couch in his parents' room.

Nobody knew what was wrong with him, since he wouldn't talk to anyone, but Kevin had an idea. He would wait until morning, though, and see how Nick was feeling before he said anything, though, because if that's not what it was, Nick would be on his case about not being his mother. Kevin, however, was up most of the night worried about his younger brother, as would the rest of the family if Kevin had said anything.

---------

Okay, so this was a bad ending I know, but I wasn't sure how to wrap it up, and I knew I needed to. Next chapter will be drama filled! Let's hope Nick's okay! Oh, and I have no idea what street Miley lives on or anything, and I don't know if Nick's room overlooks hers, but I _do_ know that the Jonas family still has a house in Jersey and they also have a house in LA that _is_ in the same neighborhood as the Cyrus family. As always, I love reviews! Let me know what you think! (More than just "I love it!" and stuff really helps, like what _parts_ you liked!) Thanks guys!


	10. Chapter 10

I'm so sorry it's been so long…this weekend was crazy and I had no free time to write at all! I'm working on the new chapter now, so hopefully that will be up soon! Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed! Keep it up! And JonasGirl-1, thanks for all of the reviews! It was fun to read all of them in order!

December 17, 2006

When Nick awoke the next morning, he felt even worse. He knew exactly what it was, though. He checked his Omni-pod and sure enough, his blood sugar was up to 470. Unfortunately, his Omni-pod had malfunctioned when Nick had forgotten to program in what he had eaten the day before.

He should have thought about it the night before, but he wasn't thinking straight and he didn't realize it. It still had only been a little over a year since he was diagnosed and even though he knew what to do now, sometimes he forgot about his disease.

Kevin and Joe were still asleep, as well as his mom and dad and Frankie. He figured they all had been out late having fun. He didn't want to wake them, but he didn't know what else to do. He climbed out of bed to go to the mini fridge so he could get some juice or something in him, maybe regulate his sugar. However, as he got up, he became very dizzy and as he started to walk over to the other side of the room, he collapsed.

Joe woke up to a thud on the floor and slowly opened his eyes. He looked over to Nick's bed and saw he wasn't there. For a second, Joe started to go back to sleep, thinking it was nothing. However, Joe remembered that Nick had been sick the night before and became very worried. When he sat up in bed, he didn't see his younger brother anywhere. But, when he got up to find out where he was, he saw Nick lying on the floor at the foot of Joe and Kevin's bed.

"Kevin!" Joe yelled. Kevin rolled over and put a pillow over his head. "Kevin!" Joe yelled again, this time punching his brother in the leg, for that was the only place he could reach.

"What?" Kevin whined as he sat up.

"Nick fell," Joe said, helplessly. He looked down at his brother and picked him up, lying him down on the bed. Kevin looked pretty helpless as well, but was trying to be the good big brother.

"I'll go get Mom," Kevin said as he left the room and went down the hall and started banging on his parent's hotel room door. It was then that Joe realized what time it was. 5 o'clock in the morning. This was going to be a long day.

---------

Denise had come back to the room with Kevin Jr. a few minutes later and by then Joe had gotten Nick to wake up. He was woozy and disoriented, but he was awake. Kevin Sr. was still in his room, trying to wake up Frankie and call an ambulance.

When the emergency vehicle arrived, Denise climbed into the back with her son. Kevin Sr. drove the rest of the boys in the rental car to the hospital. Nick was admitted and put on an IV to help get his blood sugar levels back to normal. He had fallen asleep pretty quickly after the doctor had put the IV in, but he said this was normal and just to let him rest for awhile.

"I just don't understand why he didn't tell any of us," Denise said to no one in particular.

"I noticed that he was acting strange yesterday, and I thought it was maybe his blood sugar, but I wasn't sure. You know how upset he gets when people ask him about it," the eldest brother said, looking down at his hands, blaming himself.

"It's not your fault," his father said, picking up on what his son was thinking.

"If I would have just said something, though," Kevin said, trying not to get upset.

"Stop. It doesn't matter now," Joe said, angrily. "I need to get some air."

Joe walked out of the room where his youngest brother was sleeping in his mother's lap, his oldest brother was beating himself up, his parents were trying to be strong, and his "little man" as he often referred to him as, was in a hospital bed, completely helpless. Joe couldn't take it.

He walked out of the hospital and into a grassy area. It was just getting to be morning, it was about 7 now. He sat down on a bench and put his face in his hands and cried. Joe wasn't big on the whole being emotional thing. He was always cracking jokes and doing stupid things. He was the "funny" brother. However, he was quite an emotional person, people just didn't get to see that side of him.

He cried for Nick, who was upstairs fighting a daily battle that had once again taken him on the verge of being in a serious condition. He cried for his parents, who had to go through all of this. He cried for anyone and everyone he could think of that would be affected by this. And then he cried for himself, that he wasn't strong enough to be there for his family and instead had to come outside and cry.

Joe finally composed himself around 8 and walked back into the hospital. Immediately when he entered Nick's room he went into the bathroom before anyone could see him. Boy, he was a sight for sore eyes; literally, his eyes hurt. He splashed water on his face and dried it off. Most of the puffiness was gone, however, they were still bloodshot. Good as it was going to get.

Denise was the first to welcome Joe back into the room and he sat next to her, on the other side that Frankie was on. Joe just put his head on her shoulder and closed his eyes. It had been an early morning, and they were all exhausted. Kevin Sr. went for coffee at Starbuck's around 10 and took Frankie with him. Denise went to get breakfast in the cafeteria downstairs for the boys. Kevin and Joe just sat in silence for awhile.

"He's going to be okay," Kevin said, not taking his eyes off the floor.

"I know he is. I just hate it when this happens. I hate that this had to happen to our little brother," Joe said, not looking at Kevin, but instead at Nick.

"He's strong though. And we need to be strong, too, Joe," Kevin said, finally looking at a family member for the first time in hours.

"I know, I know," Joe said, still looking at Nick.

The brothers were silent for awhile longer. Their parents hadn't gotten back yet and they were beginning to wonder where they were. Just as Kevin stood up to go out and call them, he heard a voice he'd needed to hear for hours.

"What? What's going on?" Nick hoarsely whispered. Had it not been so silent in the room, they probably wouldn't have heard him.

"Nick!" Joe and Kevin both said at the same time. Each of them rushed to a side of his bed.

"How you feeling, little man?" Joe asked.

"I, my head hurts," Nick paused, "where am I?" he said as he looked around the room.

"You're in the hospital. You woke up this morning and fell. You're blood--" Kevin started to say, but Nick interrupted him.

"Blood sugar was up to 470, I know. I checked it and that's why I got; up to get something to drink," Nick said, still whispering. "I'm sorry," he said.

"Don't be sorry, bud. We're just glad you're okay," Kevin told him. Joe was speechless at this point. He wanted to say so much to Nick, but wasn't sure how to. He figured he'd do it later, when they were alone.

"Where's Mom and Dad?" Nick asked.

"They went to get some breakfast and coffee. They'll be back soon," Kevin said. As soon as he finished his sentence, Kevin Sr. and Frankie walked in with coffee. Unfortunately, Frankie saw that Nick was awake and dropped the 2 cups of coffee that he was carrying. Nobody cared, though.

A few minutes later, Denise walked in. Her hands were full of things and she was looking down as she opened the door.

"Sorry I took so long, guys. I left to go get real food and I stopped by the hotel on the way back to get some stuff to keep us--" she started and realized Nick was awake. "Nicky!"

"Hey, Mom," Nick lightly laughed and waved to her.

"Oh baby!" she said, putting her things down on the ground. "I was so worried about you!" she cooed as she grabbed his head and stroked his hair, kissing his forehead.

"Mom!" Nick said, teasing her. "I'm not dead."

"We were all worried, Nick," Joe said, finally speaking for the first time since he had asked Nick how he was. Nick just smiled at him, knowingly. He knew that if something ever happened to Joe, he would have a hard time dealing with it, and knew that Joe was having the same problem.

"What'd you bring from the hotel?" Nick asked his mom.

"Well," she said as she got into the duffle bag. "I brought some crossword puzzles and some coloring books. I brought a small puzzle," Denise was naming off the things she brought as she pulled them out of the bag. Frankie was quite pleased with what she had brought. However, her three eldest sons weren't as thrilled.

"Is that it?" Joe asked, his sarcastic nature slowly coming back now that he knew Nick was okay, at least for today.

"What did you expect? Your X-Box?" she laughed. Her sons just stared at her like "Duh!" Denise smiled. "Good thing I'm SuperMom, huh?" she said as she pulled out the gaming system and a few games.

"Cool!" Nick said, his voice starting to come back. Kevin Jr. plugged in the console and put in a game. She had only brought 2 controllers, hoping they wouldn't fight. They didn't. The three switched on and off, all sitting on Nick's bed looking up and the small TV that was mounted on the ceiling. When Joe and Kevin were playing and Nick was just watching he suddenly realized something. "Mom! What time is it?"

"It's a little after one, honey," Denise said, looking at her watch.

"Crap!"

"Nicholas!" she shot at him.

"Sorry. Did you bring my phone?" he asked her.

"Oh yes, I forgot to give it to you," she said pulling it out of her purse. He opened the phone and silently cursed himself. 4 missed calls. All from Miley. Great.

---------

Miley paced around her room like she had been doing for the past hour. Nick hadn't retuned her phone calls. She didn't have his brothers' numbers. What was going on?

"Hey, bud, how you doing?" Billy Ray asked as he walked past his daughter's room. "Or should I ask, _what_ are you doing?"

"He won't answer, Daddy!" she said as she stopped pacing and flung herself onto her bed.

"Who?" he asked, leaning against the door frame.

"Nick! He was supposed to call me around 10 and we were going to hang out at the beach with his brothers. But he didn't call and I've called him 4 times and he hasn't answered," she said, pouting after she was done ranting.

"Now, I don't know why this would be, but maybe he just isn't as interested as you are, Miley," Billy Ray said cautiously as he approached her bed.

"No, Daddy. That's not like Nick. Forget about us being interested or not. He wouldn't just _not answer_! Something's wrong!" she said, almost ready to cry. Her dad sat down next to her.

"Come on now, you know what they say, Fifth time's the charm, right?" he said smiling, trying to cheer his daughter up.

"No, that's the third time. But fine. I'll call one more time. If he doesn't answer, I'm going to go find him," she said, picking up her phone.

"Just call him. We'll go from there," Billy Ray winked at his daughter and walked out of her room.

Miley dialed Nick's number and it rang, and rang, and rang. _Hey, it's Nick J! Leave a message and I _might_ call you back! _Darn; his voicemail; again. She put the phone down next to her and put her head on her pillow. Her eyes started to water, wondering what was wrong with Nick. Then her phone went off.

---------

"She's calling me," Nick said, hitting Joe in the arm.

"What?" Joe asked, pausing the game and turning around.

"Miley, she's calling me," Nick said again.

"Okaaaaay," Joe said, "so, answer it?"

"I'd like a little privacy!" Nick said. "Help me get up and into my wheelchair. I'll talk to her out in the hall." Kevin and Joe both got up and while Joe balanced Nick enough for him to get into his wheelchair, Kevin untangled his IV and unlocked the wheels so he could take it with him.

Once he was in the hallway, he called her back.

"Hello?" she answered in a raspy voice.

"Hey, Miley, what's up?" Nick said, knowing it wasn't because she was tired. She sounded like she was going to cry.

"Nick, are you okay?" she asked, obviously worried.

"Of course. I was just, uhh, busy earlier," Nick said, trying to sound believable.

"Busy! Nicholas Jonas! Are you out of your mind! I thought something happened to you! I thought you were in the hospital or something!" she yelled into the phone.

"Uhh, the hospital?" he asked nervously, with a little laugh. "Why, uhh, why would I be there?"

"I don't know," she said sternly, "but I thought something happened to you, Nick. Don't scare me like that!" she said, softening her tone.

"I'm sorry, Miley, I just--" Nick started to say, but it was too late. He was interrupted.

"Paging Doctor Helling, paging Doctor Helling, floor 2, floor 2," was heard over the intercom system at the hospital. Nick prayed that Miley hadn't heard it. His prayers went unanswered.

"You _are_ in the hospital!" she shrieked. "Nick! What's going on?"

"I, uhh, Miley I've got to go. I'll call you later, I promise."

"Nick don't you _dare_ hang up that phone!" she yelled.

"I'm sorry. I gotta go," he said and hung up. He hated doing that to her, but he didn't want her to know about anything. He didn't want her to feel sorry for him. He wheeled himself back in the room.

"How'd it go?" Denise asked.

"I don't want to talk about it," Nick grumbled as he wheeled himself over to his bed. Joe and Kevin helped him back up and after looking at him for a few seconds waiting to him to spill, which apparently wasn't going to happen, they went back to their game.

---------

"Daddy! Daddy!" Miley ran down the stairs and practically ran over her dad on the way down.

"What? What?" he said, catching her before she fell.

"We have to go to the hospital!" Miley yelled, grabbing her coat.

"What's wrong? Are you hurt?" he asked.

"No, Nick's at the hospital!"

"What? How do you know?"

"He called me and I heard someone paging a 'Doctor Helling'!"

"Which hospital?" Billy Ray asked, grabbing for his coat as well. He knew there was no convincing his daughter that she couldn't go.

"I have no idea. We can just go to all of them that have a Doctor Helling working and go from there?" she suggested, then realized how stupid that sounded. "Will that work?" she asked, getting upset.

"I don't know, pumpkin. Come on, let's go find that boy," he said, holding the door open for her. They walked to his car and got in. As they pulled down the driveway, she put her head up against the window. She stared out the window and just wanted to find Nick soon.

"I just hope he's okay," she whispered to herself.

---------

After 3 different hospitals, they finally found one with a Doctor Helling. Miley, and her dad, just hoped it was the right one. Miley went up to the front desk and waited until the lady behind it got off the phone.

"May I help you?" the lady asked.

"Could you tell me which room Nick Jonas is in, please?" Miley asked. The lady turned to her computer and typed in his name.

"I'm sorry, I've been instructed not to give out his room number," the lady said. Miley sighed and sat down on the small chair across the hallway.

"Daddy, I have to see him," she pleaded with her father.

"Why don't you call him?"

"He'll tell me to go away."

"Just call him, Miles."

"Fine," she said and walked away from her dad. It rang a few times and finally Nick picked up.

"Hey, Miley, what's up?" Nick said, somewhat distracted she could tell.

"Hey, umm, can I talk to Joe?" she asked, hoping he would just put him on.

"What do you want to talk to Joe for?" Nick asked, confused.

"Because she wants my body," Joe said.

"Tell him I don't want _any_ of that," Miley laughed. "I just need to ask him something."

"Okay, here you go," Nick said and handed Joe the phone.

"Hello?" Joe said into the phone in a girl voice.

"You're an idiot," Miley laughed. "Hey, could you step out of the room for a second? I have a question for you."

"Yeah, hang on just a second," he said and handed his controller to Kevin. Joe walked out of the room and put the phone back up to his ear. "What's up?"

"What room is Nick in?" she demanded.

"What?" Joe asked, confused.

"What room is Nick in? I'm downstairs, but they won't tell me where he is!" Miley pleaded with Joe.

"I'll be down in just a second," he said and hung up the phone. A few moments later, Joe was in the lobby with Miley and Billy Ray.

"Joe!" Miley cried when she saw him. She hugged him and looked up at him. "Is Nick okay?" she asked worriedly.

"He is now. Come on, come up and see him," Joe motioned for Miley and her dad to come up. Miley started to follow Joe, but her dad stayed behind. She looked back at him and asked him what was wrong.

"I'm gonna stay down here, bud. You go up and take your time. I'm going to go, uhh, down the street and buy your Mom something nice. Call me when you're ready," he said. "On second thought, I'll just go home. Just let me know when you want to leave," he told her, kissing the top of her head. She smiled and knew that she was lucky that he trusted her so much.

Joe led Miley up to Nick's room. Miley pestered him the whole way up, but Joe told her that Nick needed to explain everything if he was ready to. Joe told her to be prepared for what she was going to see. He was hooked up to an IV and some other machines as well, and he knew that she would get emotional. She told herself to be strong, however, for Nick, and for his family.

Joe knocked on Nick's room door softly. He walked in and Miley followed him a few steps behind.

"Joe, why would you knock?" Nick asked while his voice faded and he saw her. His face dropped, not because he wasn't glad to see her, but because he didn't want her to see him like this. He put down his controller and Kevin looked over to see what was going on. When he saw Miley, he knew. Everyone just stood there looking at her.

"Who are you?" Frankie asked, finally.

"I'm sorry. Mom, Dad, Frank, this is Miley," Joe said, introducing her, even though Nick should have been the one to do it, but he was being quite silent.

"It's so nice to finally meet you, Miley," Denise said and stood up, as well as her husband. They each shook her hand and then all the attention was on Nick. He still hadn't said anything since she had walked in. He wasn't sure what to say.

Denise looked around and noticed the tension.

"Hey, Frankie, want to come with me? I'm going to go check out the cafeteria," she asked her youngest.

"Nah, I'll stay here," he said.

"Frank, I'd _really_ like you to go with me," she said sternly.

"Fine," he said, putting his coloring book down. Kevin Sr. got the hint.

"Hey Kev, Joe, you wanna help me with some stuff?" he asked.

"What stuff?" Joe asked, not wanting to leave his brother.

"You know, stuff," Kevin Jr. said this time (A/N: if any of you get that, let me know! Haha!). He knew Nick and Miley needed to be alone to talk.

"Fine," said Joe, finally getting it. "But I'll be watching you," he said to Nick. The rest of the Jonas gang left and there was just Nick and Miley. She hadn't really moved since she walked in the room, other than to shake people's hands. She was still all the way across the room. They just looked at each other. Neither one knew what to say.

"Miley?" he asked softly. She started to cry and turned away from him. "Miles, come here," he said and patted the hospital bed. She refused and stayed with her back facing him. "Please?" he asked.

She walked over to the bed after she had wiped the tears away and sat down on the one side, close to the middle. She just looked at him. He put a hand on hers and she began to tear up again.

"Please don't," he begged her.

"Nick, what's wrong with you?" she asked, her voice catching in her throat.

"I uhh, I have diabetes," Nick said.

"Oh my God. Nick, how did this happen?"

"I've had it for awhile now. I found out about a year ago. It just got really out of wack and I fell and had to come here. I'm fine, though," he said, trying to reassure her.

"I don't understand. If you've had it and know how to deal with it, what happened?" she asked, confused.

"I'm still really not sure. I think I forgot to program my Omni-pod correctly yesterday after I had that marshmallow thing on the set with you, and it just messed up from that and I felt too sick to deal with it last night and…Miley, what's wrong?" he asked her, noticing she was crying again.

"This is my fault. I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have told you to eat that thing, I'm, Nick, I'm so sorry," she said, sobbing.

"Miley, this is not in any way your fault. You had no idea, and besides, it's my fault for not fixing it," he explained to her.

"Why didn't you program your Omni-?" Miley started.

"Omni-pod. And we were on set. I didn't want you to know about all of this yet. I don't go around telling a lot of people. Here," he said, picking up her hand. "The thing you hit yesterday was this," and placed her hand on his Omni-pod.

"Did I break it?" she asked.

"No, not at all. It was my fault that this happened. Not yours," he told her. She smiled a little for the first time since she had gotten there. His hand was still holding onto hers. He looked down and with his other hand, pulled out his dog tag. "This," he said, putting both of their hands up to his chest to hold the tag, "is my dog tag. It's says I'm a diabetic, just in case anything happens and I'm not with my family."

Miley fingered the metal tag for a moment, then realized how close her and Nick were. Her hand was on his chest, him holding onto her wrist lightly. She was leaning into him slightly, and she looked at him and he looked at her. He looked at her lips and back up at her, and she did the same. But instead of doing what both of them wanted, Miley backed up and Nick set her hand down on the bed. This was _not_ the place for their first kiss.

The Jonas clan came back in about half an hour later, to find Miley and Nick sitting up facing each other in his bed, talking. Denise could have sworn that she saw Nick pull his hand away from Miley's when everyone started to filter in, but she wasn't sure.

A few hours passed and Miley realized that she probably needed to call her dad. She stepped out of the room and called him and told him that she was ready whenever, but if he _wanted_ to take his time, that was perfectly fine. He told her he'd call her when he was pulling up to the parking lot.

Miley went back into the room and sat back down on Nick's bed, which was rather crowded now, with Nick, Kevin, Joe, and Miley all on it. Miley offered to grab a chair and sit in that, but Nick placed a hand on her knee and told her she wasn't going anywhere. She told him that she was leaving soon, and he handed a controller over to Kevin.

"We're not going to get a lot of privacy," Nick whispered into her ear, so that no one in the room could hear. She hit him playfully on the chest.

"Mr. Jonas! What would we need privacy for," she whispered back as she wrapped a hand around the back of his head and stroked his curls. They both looked at each other and smiled. She pulled away as her phone rang. It was her dad and he was waiting downstairs.

"It was really nice to meet you," Miley said to Denise and Kevin Sr. Then she walked over to the boys. "Great to see you again, Kev," she said as she hugged him. "Thanks partner-in-crime," she said to Joe as he enveloped her in a big hug. "Call me tomorrow? Let me know how you're doing?" Miley asked Nick. He nodded and winked at her. She walked over to the other side of the bed and gave him a hug. She breathed him in and wished she didn't have to go. "Don't you _ever_ scare me like that again," she whispered to him.

"I promise," he said and held up 2 fingers, indicating a scout's honor.

"You're _not_ a boy scout," she pointed out.

"I still promise," he said, smiling at her. She left and got into her dad's car in the parking lot.

"He okay?" Billy Ray asked his daughter.

"He has diabetes," she said.

"Wow, I'm sorry," he said, not apologizing to Miley, but just feeling sorry for Nick.

"He's okay, though," she smiled and looked at her dad. "He's going to be fine."


	11. Chapter 11

December 19, 2006

Nick was released the next day, but his Mom wanted him to take it easy at the hotel. He really wanted to go see Miley, but his Mom insisted he stay there. Miley however did come over later in the day and play some guitar with the boys, just kind of messing around and what not.

Kevin had given his dad the business card from Disney and while waiting for Nick to get out of the hospital, Kevin Sr. had called and talked to Eddie. They had a meeting set up for after the new year, when they would be officially dropped from their current label. The boys were ecstatic, and so was Miley. Knowing that they might be part of the same music family was amazing.

Now, the 3 older Jonas brothers, Miley, and Brandi were all going to Six Flag Magic Mountain. It was somewhat of a Disney promotional, but not entirely. Miley did have to make an appearance on the main stage that night, as well as the Jonas Brothers, but for the day, they were totally free. They rode the rides and ate lots of junk food. They were having a great time.

Joe was flirting with Brandi. She was an older woman, you know, _and_ had blonde hair. She pretty much blew him off, though (in a nice way) and hung out more with Kevin. They were closer to the same age and had more in common.

Nick and Miley were basically inseparable all day. They rode all the rides next to each other, and walked next to each other the rest of the time. Brandi had promised her parents that she wouldn't let Miley out of her sight while she was with Nick, but Miley, being the sneaky girl that she is, told Brandi that her and Nick were going to go on The Riddler's Revenge, a ride in which Brandi was afraid of. Joe and Kevin weren't all that interested, either, so they stayed behind while Nick and Miley got on the ride.

Somehow, unbeknownst to Brandi or the 2 older Jonas boys, Miley and Nick managed to not even _get on_ the ride, but instead, snuck off to talk. They found a bench in a somewhat secluded area and sat down. Miley sat with her legs up on the bench, facing Nick. Nick sat normal on the bench, but had an arm up on the back of it and was turned facing Miley.

"I can't believe they haven't found us yet!" Nick said, after they had been sitting there awhile.

"They're probably freaking out!" Miley laughed. There was a bit of an awkward silence for a moment.

"So…" Nick started, not really knowing what to say.

"Why didn't you tell me about your diabetes, Nick?" Miley asked, straightforward.

"Way to be nonchalant!" he retorted back, and then looked over to his one hand that was clutching the back of the bench. He stared at it for a moment, and then looked back to Miley. She was waiting for an answer. "I don't go around advertising this, Miley," he said as he untucked his medical tag from the inside of his shirt.

"But Nick, it's me," she pleaded.

"I know. Miley, I wanted to tell you, I just couldn't. I didn't want you to think I was weak or something, like you needed to take care of me," he told her. He hated talking about his diabetes. It was still fairly new to him and he was a bit embarrassed.

"But Nick," she pleaded again, "lots of people have diabetes. Do you know how many people you could reach with this?"

"But what if people don't look at me the same. I don't want people feeling sorry for me. What if it ruins my career?"

"Having diabetes doesn't ruin a career, Nick. Having a mullet might," she laughed and finally got him to smile, "but having diabetes won't."

"I just don't even know how I'd come out with it, you know. It's been a year, it's not like it's something new that we just found out about," he said. "I just don't want any sympathy."

"You don't have to be this strong all the time, Nick," she said, grabbing his hand. "It's okay to let your guard down." Her big blue-green eyes looked at him, glistening with tears. She cared so much about him, in such a short period of time. How was he supposed to handle this? Nick held onto her hand for a moment and looked back at her.

"I know. I just don't know what else to do," he said softly, turning away from her now. She suddenly regretted saying anything. She didn't want to upset him; they had been having so much fun.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have brought it up. Let's just have fun, today, okay?" Miley asked, hoping he could just forget she had said anything. He looked over at her and he could see how bad she felt.

"Okay," he said, squeezing the hand that he was still holding onto. "Let's go have some fun."

Just as they got up to walk away and go find something else to do, they were stopped.

"Destiny Hope!" Miley heard Brandi yell. Miley and Nick both stopped as they heard Brandi approaching. Miley shut her eyes and squeezed Nick's hand a little tighter still. "Where have the two of you been?" Brandi demanded to know when she finally caught up to them.

"Here," Miley said, with a little attitude.

"Right here?" Brandi asked, crossing her arms, unsure of her sister.

"Yes. We've been sitting on that bench just talking for the last half hour," Miley said, matter-of-factly. Nick just stood there not saying anything. His brothers weren't there, but they would sure give him a hard time later. "Where are the boys? Or did you lose them, too?" Miley said with a 'tone'. Brandi scowled at her.

"No, they are out looking for the two of you!" Brandi yelled again. She didn't usually get angry with Miley, but her parents had warned her about taking Miley and the boys, just because of photographers and things like that. "I'm sorry," she said, finally calming down, "let's just get you over to the stage. You've got to start getting ready."

"Fine," Miley said and started walking. That's when she realized her and Nick were _still_ holding hands. She looked down at their fingers entwined. Nick looked down at them as well, and they both looked up at each other and gave a small smile and took off after Brandi.

They met up with the boys at the stage. People were already gathering around it, and the stage manager had to get Miley, Brandi, and the Jonas Brothers backstage somehow.

----------

"He said, I've been to the year 3000. Not much has changed but they lived under water. And your great great great grand daughter, is doing fine; doing fine," Joe sang into the microphone and ended the song.

The Jonas Brothers had taken the stage about half an hour ago. The girls were going crazy. Joe loved it. He just ate it all up. Nick and Kevin thought it was cool, but not for the girls, just that they could have that many people like their music.

"Ladies, ladies!" Joe said into the mic. They all screamed. "I know, I know, I love you all, too!" he yelled. "Alright, well I hate to leave you guys because you've been great! But I've got to hand it over to someone who is a pretty cool chick!" The girls started screaming again.

"We're really lucky to have been able to get to know her. She's funny and tough and witty. She's pretty, too," Kevin said, "isn't she Nick?" as he looked over at his brother across the stage. Nick didn't even hesitate, mostly because he was so pumped up with adrenaline.

"She's gorgeous!" Nick yelled into the microphone. The girls all went crazy again. "Yes, it's true! Let's bring her out here!"

The girls all started cheering "Hannah! Hannah! Hannah!"

"Miss Hannah Montana!" Joe yelled. Miley came out in her blonde wig. Nick liked her better as Miley, that's for sure.

"Hey everybody! How we doin' tonight? How'd ya'll like the Jonas Brothers!" she asked and everyone went crazy. Miley laughed, "yeah! That's what I'm talking about!"

The Jonas Brothers did their final bow and as they ran off the stage, Nick grabbed Miley's hand for a second as he passed by. She smiled at him and started her portion of the concert.

---------

The ride back from the park was pretty fun. They were all still pumped up from the concert and the fans and everything. Brandi was driving her SUV with Kevin in the front seat. Miley was in the middle of the back seat, with Nick on one side and Joe on the other.

"So when do you guys move in? Do you know yet?" Miley asked them.

"Moving in? Are you guys moving here?" Brandi asked, shocked.

"Yeah, our parents put an offer down on a house a few days ago," Kevin said to Brandi. Then he turned to Miley, "the second week of January."

"This is going to be so cool! I can help you guys move in!" Miley said.

"So where is the house?" Brandi asked Kevin.

"It's actually right up the street from your house," Joe said before Kevin could get a word out. He was feeling somewhat left out.

"Really?" Brandi asked.

"Into Ricky and Jean's house," Miley said and Brandi raised her eyebrows.

"That's quite a nice place," she said.

"Yeah, it's awesome," Nick said, finally speaking up. "We each finally have our own room."

"That's cool that you guys are moving in so close. I guess ya'll will probably be hanging out a lot, then, huh?" Brandi said as she looked back and Nick and Miley quickly, before turning back to the road. They both blushed. "Good thing Miley's room is on the second floor. We wouldn't want anyone sneaking in, now would we?" Brandi smiled.

"Brandi!" Miley said, embarrassed. Nick just smiled.

"I like you too much to sneak into your house," Nick whispered so no one could hear. She smiled back. Wait, did he just say he liked her? He did!

"What is that supposed to mean?" Miley whispered back. "Do you sneak into girls' rooms that you don't like?"

"No, I mean, I just, I wouldn't want to get caught and not be able to see you," he stuttered out into her ear.

"Oh, I see," she whispered and then pulled back and raised an eyebrow at him.

"Secrets, secrets are no fun, secrets, secrets hurt someone," Joe said, getting annoyed.

"I'm going to hurt you Joe if you don't stop. One night, just be cool, k?" Nick asked. Joe just rolled his eyes and crossed his arms and didn't say another word until they reached the hotel.

"Thanks for the ride Brandi," Joe said, getting out.

"It was fun getting to hang out with someone my age for once. I'm always with my brothers, which isn't bad, but it can get old sometimes," Kevin said to Brandi. Nick and Miley were in the backseat whispering again.

"It's cool. You can come hang out with me and my friends anytime," Brandi said.

"I guess we should pry them away from each other," Kevin said as he looked into the backseat and saw the 2 younger teens cuddling and giggling and whispering, completely unaware that anyone else was even in the car.

"Probably," Brandi said. "Hey Miles?"

"Hmmm?" Miley asked, not turning her attention away from Nick.

"We need to get up to the room, Nick," Kevin said.

"K," Nick said, not really paying attention.

"Guys!" Brandi yelled at them, bringing them out of their trance and into a state of complete embarrassment. They shyly smiled at one another.

"I'll won't see you for awhile. Until after Christmas," he told her. She knew that already, but this was the last time she would see him until he came to move in.

"I know, don't remind me," she said, "I'll miss you."

"I'm going to miss you, too, Miley," Nick said, wrapping her up in a hug.

"Call me?" Miley asked, pulling away slightly.

"Every day," Nick replied.

In the front seat, Brandi and Kevin exchanged numbers and said their goodbyes as well.

"Thanks for going with us today, Brandi," Nick said, getting out of the SUV, followed by Miley.

"No problem, she said.

"See you soon, girly," Kevin said, wrapping Miley up in a hug.

"Not soon enough," Miley said into Kevin's shoulder, looking at Nick. He was standing there with his hands in his pockets, swinging back and forth a little. He didn't want her to have to leave, but he knew she had to.

Miley climbed back into the front seat of the SUV and she closed the door. Rolling the window down, both sisters waved to the brothers as they turned around before they walked back into the hotel.

"You're crazy about him, aren't you?" Brandi asked Miley as they pulled away.

"You have _no_ idea!" Miley giggled.

---------

December 20, 2006

"Ahhh!" Nick screamed at his computer screen. He was so frustrated and he couldn't take looking at the screen anymore. They were back in Jersey until January.

"What's up?" Kevin asked, walking into Nick's room after hearing his brother cry out in despair.

"I can't find anything to get Miley for Christmas. We decided that we would send each other a gift in the mail, and then open them on Christmas day on our webcams, since we won't see each other until after Christmas. But that's never going to happen if I can't find something for her," Nick said, all in one breath.

"You just need to calm down. What have you been looking at?" Kevin asked, sitting down on Nick's bed.

"Anything and everything. I think jewelry is too personal, and too couple-ish," Nick told his older brother.

"You aren't a couple?" Kevin asked.

"No!" Nick said, turning back to the computer screen.

"Could have fooled me," Kevin laughed. Nick shot him a glare.

"Not funny, Kev. I need help," he begged.

"Fine. How much do you want to spend?"

"I really don't have a limit. I mean, I'm not buying her a car or anything," Nick said.

"Okay, what about just writing a song for her?" Kevin suggested.

"I kind of already did, I'm working on it. But I was to get her something to open, too," Nick explained.

"You think of everything," Kevin joked.

"Except a gift for Miley! Help me!" Nick pleaded.

"Fine. Get up. Let me see what I can find," Kevin said and practically pushed Nick off the chair.

After about another hour of looking, they finally found the perfect gift. Nick got out his credit card, typed in the number, and had it shipped overnight to Miley's house, just to make sure she'd get it in time. Little did he know that she was having the same problem 3000 miles away.

---------

"Braison! I'm _not_ getting Nick a piano! I don't have that kind of money. And he already has one!" Miley told her younger brother, who was helping her pick out a gift for Nick, along with her older brother Trace.

"Write him a song," Trace suggested. "I've heard some of them you wrote about him, they're pretty good, Miles."

"And how did you hear them? And they are _not_ about Nick!" she defended. Trace just sighed and looked at his little sister.

"Look, it's not like I'm excited that my sister likes a guy this much, but ever since you met him, all you've been writing is love songs. It's pretty obvious," Trace said. Braison agreed with a nod.

"Whatever. Come on, I need to get him something!" she said, turning back to her computer. She was pretty desperate by now. Christmas was only 5 days away!

"What about a skateboard?" Braison suggested.

"You could get it personalized," Trace told her.

"That would be a great idea, except I wouldn't be able to get it done and to him in 5 days," she said and sighed as she went back to looking for something. Just then, she came across the perfect gift for Nick. Braison and Trace agreed and she grabbed her purse and got out her credit card. He was going to love it!

---------

Thank you guys so much for the reviews…as always. Let me know which parts you like. I'm sorry this isn't very long…I'm having a rough time in school right now, so I don't have a whole lot of time to be writing. I think I know what Miley and Nick are exchanging, but if you guys have any ideas, please let me know! Also, there is NOTHING going on between Kevin and Brandi…they are just about the same age and have a lot in common. Thanks again!


	12. Chapter 12

December 22, 2006

"Please let me open it, Nick. Pretty, pretty please?" Miley begged to Nick over the phone. She was in her room staring at her gift, wrapped up in gold paper and a pretty white bow tied on top. Nick just laughed at her.

"Not a chance, Miley. It's supposed to be _for_ Christmas, not three days before Christmas," he explained to her, as he was looking at a box himself, wrapped in blue and silver. Of course he wanted to know what she had gotten him, but more importantly what she thought of his gift. Miley had also sent presents to Joe and Kevin, which they had gotten that day, as well.

"Come on!" she laughed.

"No! Now stop before you make me feel bad!" Nick joked. "What'd you get Kevin and Joe?"

"I can't tell you that!" she said.

"Why not? I won't say anything to them," he told her.

"No, because you are getting the same thing!" she said.

"But my box is bigger than theirs!" Nick whined.

"Because you have something else in yours," she playfully teased. "You'll never guess what it is!"

"Are we going to play a guessing game?" Nick asked.

"No! Because if you guess what it is and that _is _what it is, I'll feel really bad because I'd have to lie to you!"

"You think of everything, don't you?"

"Of course!"

"So you got me two gifts? I bet you feel bad, then, huh?" he joked with her.

"Why would I feel bad for getting you two gifts?" she asked.

"Because I got you three!" he laughed. He could hear her pouting on the other end.

"That's not fair!" she whined.

"It's totally fair. We agreed on one present and you send two!"

"But you sent three! That's very unfair!"

"I could take one of them back," Nick started to say.

"No take-backsies!" she called into the phone. They both just laughed.

They talked for awhile longer. They had been talking every day since he left, just like he promised her he would. They both couldn't wait to see each other again, but unfortunately, they still had about three weeks. But with the concerts that the brothers were playing over the next few weeks would wear them out and hopefully keep Nick's mind off of Miley for a short period of time. Miley, however, didn't have anything to do but sit at home and think about Nick and stare at that little gold box.

---------

December 25, 2006

"Wake up, wake up!" Noah called as she ran down the hall banging on all of the doors. Miley slowly woke up and she heard Noah open the door next to her room, which was Braison's.

Braison was a pretty heavy sleeper, so he didn't wake up until Noah came in and jumped on him. The next thing Miley heard was a body hitting the floor, and Braison yelling at Noah to stop jumping on his bed and get out. Miley laughed to herself, but she was thankful that Noah hadn't woken her up like that.

"Miley! Miley! Get up!" Noah yelled as she barged into Miley's room. It was now that Miley looked at the clock to see what time it was.

"Noah, honey, Mommy and Daddy won't be up for awhile now. And you know we aren't allowed to open presents until they make breakfast," Miley informed her little sister. Noah sighed and climbed into bed with Miley.

"Can I sleep here until we can open presents?" Noah asked. Miley couldn't help but smile.

"Yeah, come here. But hurry, you're letting all the cold air out of my covers," Miley said and held up the blanket for Noah to get under.

"Don't forget to wake me up," Noah said as she drifted off to sleep next to her older sister.

"I won't, I promise," Miley whispered as she closed her eyes. She knew it was about 9 in New Jersey. Nick was probably already up and opening presents. Too bad he'd have to wait until she was up to open their presents.

---------

"Get up!" Joe yelled at Nick, who was still in bed. "It's 10 o'clock! And Christmas! Get up!"

"Joe, it's not like we can open up presents yet anyway," Nick said.

"And why not?" Joe demanded.

"I don't know. We have all day. Just a few more minutes," Nick begged and curled himself up tighter into the covers. Joe then had a 'brilliant' idea, or at least what he would consider brilliant. Joe grabbed Nick, blankets and all, and threw him on the floor. Nick groaned at him.

"Now you're up. Come on!" Joe said as he shoved Nick a little.

"Fine, fine," Nick finally gave in and stood up. "Just let me change."

A few minutes later, Nick was in a hoodie and sweatpants.

"Don't you want to wear something nicer than that?" Joe asked, who was dressed in a blue lightweight sweater and jeans.

"Fine!" Nick yelled. When he reemerged from the bathroom, he had on dark colored jeans and a white and red long-sleeved shirt. "Better?" he asked his brother. Joe just nodded.

They made their way down the stairs. Denise was in the kitchen, finishing up breakfast for her boys. Kevin Sr. was setting up the video camera, like he did every year. Frankie and Kevin were on the floor playing Bob the Builder on the TV. There was a fire lit already, probably thanks to their father. The tree, which had been up for a good three weeks now, looked amazing with all of the presents underneath of it. Denise smiled as she saw her two middle children come down the stairs.

"Good morning, sleepy head. What took you so long?" she asked Nick.

"I don't know, I guess I just didn't get a whole lot of sleep last night," Nick said, yawning.

"He was thinking about Miley," Joe informed his mother.

"I was not!" Nick said and hit Joe on the arm.

"I hope you like it, _Miley_. I picked it out just for you, _Miley_, You're so beautiful, _Miley_," Joe said in a high pitched voice as he mimicked Nick and started making kissy faces.

"Whatever," Nick said and blew him off. "Merry Christmas, Mom," he said as he kissed her on the cheek and stuck a finger in the pancake batter.

"Classy, Nicholas. Merry Christmas to you, too," she replied.

"Let me do that, Mom. You go sit," he suggested as he came up behind her while she was flipping the pancake.

"Nick, you don't know how," she laughed.

"It can't be that hard, right?" he said. She sighed at the sweet gesture from her son. He always _was_ the caring and thoughtful one.

"Okay, fine," she said and handed him the spatula. "But don't make them too big, and when it starts to bubble on top, that's when you flip it, and--"

"I've got it, now go sit down!" Nick said and took his spot over the stove. When all the batter was gone, he brought the plate over to the table where Denise was sitting. She laughed at the messy stack of pancakes. Some were burnt, some were still a little runny, and they were all different sized. But it was the thought that counted and she knew that.

"Breakfast is ready, boys," Denise called to the rest of them. Kevin and Frankie shot up and were the first to sit down at the table. Kevin Sr. was next, along with Joe. Denise had gotten up and brought the other plates, full of bacon, eggs, sausage, and biscuits over to the table.

They all joined hands and Kevin Jr. led the prayer.

"Lord, we thank you for everything you have given to us over the last year. The record deal and our first CD, our wonderful family, our health," Kevin said as he squeezed Nick's hand a little tighter, "this house and the one in California, and meeting all the wonderful people that we've met. Lord, we thank you for this food on the table right now and the ability to be together on this day. And Lord, we thank you and pray that you look out for us all the rest of our days. Amen," Kevin said and they all followed with an 'Amen'.

They all enjoyed an amazing breakfast together and laughed about how anxious Joe was to open gifts. It was finally time for them to gather under the tree and Frankie passed out all the gifts. Then they each took a turn opening one present at a time. Nick got some clothes and whatnot from his parents. Frankie gave Nick a picture frame with a picture of the two of them in it. Kevin and Joe had gotten Nick a new guitar that he had been wanting for awhile. The rest of the family got everything that they had asked for, including Joe who got his moon-boots.

Nick wondered when Miley would call and they could exchange gifts. He couldn't wait to see her face.

---------

A few hours after Noah had woken Miley up, they were both still sleeping. Trace came in to wake them up. He smiled when he walked in and saw his two youngest sisters sleeping together. He almost didn't want to wake them up, but he did anyway.

They got up, and after Noah yelled at Miley for not waking her up, they were all downstairs for breakfast, much like what happened at the Jonas household about 3 hours ago. They ate and then went to sit beneath the tree. Noah seemed to have more presents than anyone, so she opened up a few of her presents before anyone else.

They weren't as orderly as the Jonas family, but they did somewhat take turns opening their gifts. When all was said and done, Miley had lots of gift cards, some new boots, jeans, and shirts, a new guitar from her dad, and some jewelry. She was pretty content with what she had gotten.

She couldn't wait to give Nick her gift! But she had to wait until Kevin and Joe called. They said they had something for her, and her whole family, but that she'd have to wait until they called before she talked to Nick. She was skeptical, but she convinced herself that they knew what they were doing.

---------

A few hours later, putting the Jonas household at around 5 o'clock, the family was gathered around the piano, singing Christmas songs. It had always been a tradition with their family, since they were so musically inclined. They sang all the traditional ones, _Rudolph_, _Deck the Halls_, _Silent Night_, and more. Then the boys started singing the songs that they had written. _A Hippopotamus for Christmas_ was always Frankie's favorite. Suddenly, Joe got up and said he had to go to the bathroom.

He went upstairs and shut the bathroom door and pulled out his phone and dialed Miley's number. She answered right away.

"Hello?" she answered.

"Hey, it's Joe. Merry Christmas," he whispered.

"Merry Christmas to you. Why are you whispering?" she laughed.

"Because Nick doesn't know I'm talking to you. This is a surprise. He doesn't know about it," Joe whispered.

"Know about what?" Miley asked, confused.

"I need you to take your laptop down to your living room and make sure your whole family can see the screen. I'll send you a webcam request. Just accept it, but don't say anything until after he's done," Joe explained.

"Done with what?" Miley asked, getting up to go upstairs and get her computer.

"You'll see," Joe said. "I gotta go. Just make sure you accept the request."

"Okay, see you in a little bit," Miley said and hung up. She carried her laptop back downstairs and set it up on the coffee table. She called her whole family into the living room and told them to get around the computer. She sat directly in front of it on the floor, with Braison on one side, and Brandi on the other. Billy Ray and Tish were behind them on the couch, Noah sitting on her father's lap and Trace was standing behind his mom, sort of leaning down so he could see the screen.

"So what are we waiting for?" Braison asked.

"I have no idea. But I don't want to just sit around here and wait for whatever it is we are waiting for!" Miley said, getting impatient.

"You don't have to wait much longer, then," Brandi pointed out as Miley saw the flashing request button on her screen. She clicked it and when the picture came up, she saw Joe.

---------

Joe had his laptop facing him. Joe looked at Miley and waved, but quickly put a finger over his lips to make sure she'd be quiet. She waved back and mimicked his gesture. Joe looked over to Kevin and gave him a thumbs up.

"Hey Nick, sing _A Christmas Prayer_," Kevin asked.

"No, come on, I'll sing it later," Nick said, playing a few notes on the piano.

"Nick, please sing it!" Frankie said. He was in on the plan as well.

"Fine," Nick said and started playing the melody. Joe looked back down at his laptop and waved to Miley again. Then he turned the computer around so it was facing Nick; that way, Miley and her family could see him _and_ hear him. Nick was already too into the song to realize what Joe was up to.

Nick was at the piano, and Joe was sitting on the couch with Kevin. Kevin Sr. was working the video camera, Frankie was on the floor surrounded by his new toys and Denise was sitting on the piano stool with Nick, facing the opposite way. She waved at the laptop quickly. Miley smiled and waved back. Then Nick started to sing.

"Every year at Christmas, all I can see; pictures of the things I want, around the tree. But this year's a little different, I'm not thinkin' of myself; so my prayer for this Christmas, is for somebody else. So I pray joy, to the world; peace for every boy and girl," Nick sang. His voice reached each corner of the room, as well as Joe's computer speakers. Denise put a hand on his back as he continued with the song.

Miley and her family watched intently, as well as the Jonas family as Nick sang the next verse and the chorus again.

"Joy to the world; peace for every boy and girl," Nick softly sang and finished up the song. He heard applause from his family, but he also heard some distorted claps and even a few whistles. He whipped around and saw Joe smiling with his laptop pointing to Nick. He could see Miley and her family on the screen. They were all clapping for him. Nick's eyes got huge and he turned bright red.

"There's nothing to be embarrassed about, Nick," Denise whispered to him. "They loved it."

Then Nick smiled. He waved and the camera and bashfully looked down at the ground.

"That was great!" he heard Miley say to him. He looked up at the screen and saw her smiling. "Merry Christmas, Nick," she said, looking directly at him. Then she heard Joe clear his throat. "And the rest of the Jonas family!" she added.

"Merry Christmas to you, too," Nick said, "to all of you."

"You've got quite a voice on you, don't you Nick," Tish asked.

"I try," he said, getting a little embarrassed again. Frankie plopped down on Kevin's lap and Joe turned the computer screen around.

"Merry Christmas from the Jonas boys, Miley," Joe said as he and Kevin waved to her. Frankie blew her a kiss. She blew him one back.

"Better watch out, Nick might get jealous," Kevin laughed, and so did everyone else, except Nick. Not that he was jealous, but he was still in shock that Miley had watched him. That her _whole family_ had just watched him. He grabbed Joe's laptop from him and looked at her.

"I'll call you in a little bit, okay?" he asked her.

"Okay," she said, smiling and getting excited about being able to talk to just him.

She signed off and so did Joe.

"Not cool, Joe," Nick said as he slugged his brother in the arm.

"Hey! It was Kevin's idea!" Joe said. Nick looked at Kevin and got ready to hit him as well.

"It wasn't me!" Kevin spoke up, "it was Frankie!" and pointed at the littlest Jonas. Frankie just smiled.

"You! You thought of this?" Nick asked in a loud voice, but with a smile on his face.

"Yes and it was so funny to see the look on your face!" Frankie said.

"Funny? You think it was funny, huh?" Nick asked as he picked his little brother up and lightly threw him on the floor and started to tickle him. "Is it funny now? Is it?"

"Nick! Stop!" Frankie yelled as he was laughing in hysterics. Nick stood up and brought Frankie up with him.

"How come I got punched and he got tickled?" Joe asked, rubbing his arm.

"Because you're an idiot," Nick said, laughing. "And I'm not going to punch Frankie."

For awhile longer the Jonas family just hung out, around the piano and played around with a few ideas for songs. Denise broke out the cookies soon after and after they had all pigged out on all the Christmas food they could until dinner later that night, Nick went up to his room to call Miley. He pulled the gift out from his desk drawer and set it next to his computer as he logged into AIM and pulled out his phone.

---------

The Cyrus family did the same thing pretty much for the rest of the afternoon. Miley, Brandi, Trace, and Billy Ray all got their guitars out, with Tish on piano and they sang Christmas songs and Noah put on a little fashion show with all the new clothes she had gotten. She even made Braison dress up in some of his new stuff. He was a pretty tough kid when he wanted to be, but he was a sucker when his sisters wanted him to do something.

Miley was anxious for Nick's call and kept checking her phone to make sure she wouldn't miss his call. In the middle of _Frosty the Snowman_, Miley's phone went off. She got up and went to her phone, but it was just Emily. She wanted to wish Miley's family a Merry Christmas and tell Miley she would meet up with her tomorrow.

A few minutes later, Nick _did_ call. Finally! Miley excused herself from her family and ran up to her bedroom.

"Okay, I'm at my computer. Let me bring up my webcam," Miley said into her phone. A few seconds later, Miley could see Nick and he could see her. They turned up their volumes and hung up their phones.

"Merry Christmas, again," Nick said to her.

"Merry Christmas to you, again," Miley laughed.

"So who's going to go first?" Nick asked.

"You should," Miley said.

"How about you do," Nick suggested, "since you have 3 and I _only_ have 2," he exaggerated being upset.

"Oh shut it. I'll go first I guess, but only 1!" Miley said. She opened up the box and saw 2 boxes inside. "Hey! I thought I got three gifts!" she said and looked at the camera. Nick just laughed.

"Fine. I actually have a present here for you. Put the box down," he said and turned to the side and grabbed his guitar. Miley just smiled at him.

"These are the _best_ gifts!" Miley exclaimed and got excited.

"At Christmas time there's just one thing I want," Nick sang slowly (A/N: _way_ more slowly than the actual song). "It tops 'em all; it's better than eggnog. It's cold outside, my boots are full of snow. But I'm just hoping for some mistletoe." He paused and looked up at Miley. She raised an eyebrow at him. He blew her a quick kiss and she pretended like she caught it and placed it on her cheek.

"Very cute, Jonas," Miley said.

"Oh, I'm not done," Nick said. Then he started to sing again "You can take these presents, underneath my tree. You can take this awesome scarf my grandma made for me. You can take these boxes, tie 'em up with string; 'cause all I want for Christmas is the girl of my dreams," he sang. "Fa la la la la, la la la la," he added and laughed. Miley laughed as well.

"Bravo, bravo," she clapped.

"Well, thank you, thank you," Nick replied and took a small bow as he put his guitar down. "Okay, so that was present number one, let's move on."

"What? Are you kidding me? You tell me that I'm the girl of your dreams, and you want some mistletoe and that's it? You're not going to talk about it?" Miley said, pretending to be upset.

"Who said you were the girl of my dreams? I could have written that about someone _else_ you know, Miss Conceited," he said.

"Nicholas Jonas, it's _very_ rude to tell a girl all those things only to find out they weren't true," she replied, crossing her arms and stuck her nose up in the air.

"Don't you _dare_ think I could have written that for someone else. Not a chance," he told her and she smiled.

"That's what I thought. Okay, now you get to open one gift from me!" she said.

"No, you get to go again, since you didn't really have to open that last one."

"Not fair, Nick."

"Too bad. Open it, Miley."

"Fine," she said and asked him which box she should open first.

"The smaller one," he told her, so she did.

"What's this?" she softly asked as she pulled out a piece of notebook paper that was folded many times over.

"Sometimes I have trouble saying what I really mean. Songs are a great outlet, but there's only so much I can put into a song, so I wrote you something," Nick told her. Miley opened it up and saw his scratchy handwriting all the way down the page and she started to read it to herself.

_Miley,_

_I know this seems kind of lame, but I just wanted you to know how much you mean to me. I could sit here and write you songs all day and still not get it all out, so I'm going to try now._

_When I met you, I had no idea how big of an impact you would have on my life. I was never an unhappy person, but I'm certainly much happier now that you are in my life. I know that we don't get to see each other as much as we would like, and even though I'm moving closer, we're still both going to be really busy. I just want to let you know that I'm always here for you, even if I'm in New York and you're in LA or half way around the world. _

_I didn't think I'd be able to tell a girl about my diabetes, at least for a long time, but when you walked in that day and saw me, I didn't have much of a choice. I should have told you earlier, but I was so afraid you would think that I was a baby. I'm really glad I told you and that you support me. It means more than you can ever know to have someone in my life that I'm not related to that knows about it and is okay with it._

_I really don't think you realize what you've done to me. You've made me into some kind of love-sick puppy all the time. Don't get me wrong, I'm certainly not complaining. You have changed me in ways that I never thought were possible, especially at this age. We are so young and have so much ahead of us, but I know that I'll always be able to count of you to be there for me, and you know it totally works both ways. You and I work so well together. We get each other, we respect each other, and we have so much fun together._

_I know that you said that we should just stay friends for right now. While it hurts to know that's how you feel, I do understand. I mean, we both have a lot going on, and I would always feel like I wasn't paying enough attention to you and you deserve more than that. So much more._

_I guess what I'm trying to get out is that I care about you so much, Miley. You are the first thing on my mind when I wake up and the last thing I think about before I go to sleep. I know how corny that sounds, but it's true. You're a huge part of my life now and I can't imagine you not being in it. Merry Christmas, Miley. I hope it's a good one._

_Love,_

**Nick**

Miley looked up at him and had tears in her eyes. He, however, had a smile that faded when he saw her eyes. He was terrified that he had scared her and that things would never be the same between them again. She saw the desperation in his eyes and smiled slowly at him.

"I love it," she said, wiping her cheek.

"Really?" he asked.

"Really," she replied. "Thank you."

"Merry Christmas, Miley," he told her.

"How many times are we going to say that today?" Miley asked him, giggling.

"As many times as it takes for this to be your _best_ Christmas ever," he said intensely.

"Then you could have stopped saying it after the first time," she told him. They looked at each other for a few more minutes, giggling and laughing. "Okay, now it's your turn!"

"Okay, which one?" he asked her, looking at the two gifts in the box.

"The flat one," she replied.

"Did you get me a CD?" he asked.

"Sort of," she said. He paused. "Just open it, Nick!"

"Okay, okay," Nick said as he opened the gift. It was a CD, personalized, with his name on it and a big 'Merry Christmas' on it. "What's this?"

"What do you think it is!" she laughed.

"Well I guess it's a CD?" he questioned, turning it over.

"Duh!" she said.

"Do I need to play it?" Nick asked.

"Not right now. Later," Miley told him.

"What's on it?" he asked.

"You'll just have to see," she said with a raised eyebrow. He gave her a pouty face and she caved. "Fine, I know it sounds conceited, but they are songs that I wrote."

"Cool," he said

"About you," she told him. He looked up at her and smiled.

"Thank you," he said.

"You're welcome," Miley said.

"Okay, now it's your turn again," Nick told her.

"Fine!" she said and picked up her last gift. She pulled the bow off of it and stuck it in her hair. He told her how beautiful she looked and she just laughed. She unwrapped the gift and when she saw the box, she almost died.

"You've got to be kidding me," she deadpanned.

"Do you, umm, do you not like it? You haven't even seen it, Miley," Nick said, getting worried.

"I'm sorry, that's not it," she smiled as she apologized. She opened the box up to see a beautiful silver Movado watch with a light blue background plate. She smiled again as she put it on and it fit perfectly. "I love it, too. _Almost_ more than your note. Thank you so much, Nick."

"You are so _very_ welcome," he told her. "I had a really hard time finding anything for you, and when I saw it, I just knew it was perfect."

"It is perfect."

"And I wasn't sure what your favorite color was, but I knew that your room was that color blue, so I knew that you at least liked it," he said.

"Yeah, it is-- wait! How do you know what color my room is?" she asked, a little shocked.

"You're in your room right now and I can see the walls, Miley."

"Oh, right," she laughed and he joined in. "Okay, now for the last one! Your turn!"

"Alright, what do we have here?" he asked to himself as he took the bow off the last box and put it on his head as well. Miley gave him a little cat call and he pretended to model it. After that was over with, he took the wrapping paper off of the box. "You're not serious?" he asked as he smiled widely, as did Miley. "How did this happen?"

He looked down at the box and to his amazement, it looked _quite_ familiar. As he opened it, he found a wide-banded silver Movado watch with a dark blue background plate. He put it on and it fit perfectly as well. They knew each other so well that they had basically gotten each other the same gift. How amazing was that?

"Thank you," Nick laughed at the camera. They were both cracking up at the sheer irony of the whole thing. "I really do love it."

"I'm glad. Merry Christmas, Nick."

"Merry Christmas, Miley."

They talked for awhile longer and told each other what they had gotten, what they had been doing all day, and how they decided on their gifts for each other. After about an hour and a half, Noah came upstairs looking for Miley. Miley told Nick 'Merry Christmas' one last time and told him she'd see him soon.

"Not soon enough," he told her before she signed off of the computer.

Miley went back downstairs with Noah to find most of her family napping. She decided that was a great idea and look a spot on the opposite side of the couch from Trace.

"Merry, merry Christmas," she whispered to herself as she drifted off to sleep. What an amazing Christmas it _really_ had been. One she wasn't going to forget _anytime_ soon.

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Thanks so much for reading guys! Okay, I know, how corny was it for them to get each other the same thing, but I just had to do it! Shoot me for loving Niley fluff! Also, if you guys haven't heard Nick singing _A Christmas Prayer_, you should really do that on YouTube or something. It was when he was doing the solo thing and it's SO cute!!

I'm so sorry I didn't reply to all of your reviews this chapter…I kind of ran out of time, but you guys are such great reviewers! Keep 'em coming, please! I love them!


	13. Chapter 13

January 14, 2007

After Christmas, the Jonas Brothers had been doing concerts on the east coast until the new year. Miley and the rest of the Cyrus family had gone to Tennessee 2 days after Christmas to do family Christmas with the rest of Billy Ray's side of the family. They were there until a week before the Jonas's were moving into their new home in California.

Two days ago, the Jonas clan had come out to California to get the keys to their new house, however, since nothing was there in the way of furniture, they stayed at a hotel. So for 2 days, they shopped for beds, living room furniture, kitchen supplies, paint, sheets, lamps, and everything else that they would need in their new house. Their new home was completely filled with bags from Target and Bed, Bath, and Beyond full of the smaller things that they had gotten. The furniture would be delivered today.

Denise and Kevin Sr. got to the house early, to start unpacking things and putting them away. The boys took a cab over later in the morning before the furniture got there. When they saw 2 huge trucks pull up into the driveway, they all got excited. All but Denise. She was dreading having her boys move the things in. There was bound to be some sort of complication.

Everything went smoothly for the most part, until they were unloading the beds. Joe insisted that his be the first to go up.

"Joe, we're not going to climb all the way to the back to get your bed. The three of ours are in front of your mattress. You'll just have to wait," Kevin told Joe.

"NO!" Joe yelled. "I want my bed out now!"

They were all cranky after the heavy lifting earlier. Joe just wanted to take a nap, and his brothers knew that.

"You're not going to sleep, Joe. We have stuff to do," Nick said, grabbing the end of one mattress while Kevin got the other. Frankie was helping his mom in the kitchen, putting things away still. Kevin Sr. had gone to get them some lunch and Joe stood outside the truck with his arms crossed. As Nick and Kevin approached the end of the truck, Joe refused to move until they got his bed out.

"Joe! Stop being ridiculous!" Kevin yelled at him.

"I'm not being ridiculous. I just want my mattress!" he whined.

"You'll get it in a minute. If you'd help us, it'd go a lot faster!" Nick told him. Joe just huffed off away from the truck and got on his phone.

Kevin and Nick carried the 3 mattresses and the 3 box springs into the house and up the stairs all by themselves. Joe was still on the phone in the front yard, with AJ, no doubt. Kevin and Nick, not wanting to be tattle-tales but also not wanting to do all the work, told Denise that Joe wasn't helping. She walked outside and marched right up to him, took his phone and shut it.

"Joseph Adam Jonas. Today is stressful enough. Either help your brothers or find somewhere else to live!" she yelled at him.

"You wouldn't kick me out!" Joe laughed.

"Try me," she said in a stern voice and a pissed off look on her face. Joe stopped smiling and walked away to help his brothers with the rest of the stuff.

By the time they got all of the furniture into the house, it was a little after 2 o'clock. Nick decided to call Miley, since she said she would come over to help organize and unpack after they had gotten everything into the house.

"Hello?" she answered her phone.

"Hey, you! What's up?" Nick asked.

"Nothing much. Me and Brandi are watching a movie," Miley said and Nick could hear her crunching on some popcorn.

"Are you guys at your house?" Nick asked.

"Yeah. How's the moving going?"

"We're all moved in," he paused, "Kind of. We need to unpack still."

"You want me to come over?" Miley asked.

"No, I just thought I'd call you and tell you that I _didn't_ want to see you," Nick told her.

"Jerk," she laughed.

"Skank," he retorted.

"Idiot," she replied.

"Oh, I'm sorry. This is Nick, not Joe," Nick said and he and Miley both laughing. "I'm just kidding. I do want you to come over here. Brandi can come if she wants to."

"Nah, the movie's almost over and she's got plans. But I'll be over in about 15 minutes, okay?"

"Sounds good. See you then!" Nick said and shut his phone. This was the first time that he was going to see her in almost 4 weeks. He was so excited.

----------

"Did you just uninvite me?" Brandi asked Miley.

"No, I just said you were busy," Miley replied, getting off the couch and turning off the movie.

"Why?" Brandi questioned.

"Because. I wanted to get to spend some time with Nick."

"And you can't do that if I go with you?"

"Well, yeah, fine, if you want to come, then just come," Miley told her, walking up the stairs and to her room without waiting for a reply from Brandi. Brandi took the popcorn bowl to the kitchen and dumped it out into the trash and then followed Miley to her room.

"What's going on with you?" Brandi asked her sister.

"Nothing. I just, I don't want you going over there," Miley told her as she put on some makeup.

"Why?" Brandi asked.

"Because, you and Kevin have been talking a lot. What if you and him get together? And then break up? It would be awkward for me and Nick," Miley said and turned to face her older sister.

"That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard. _If_ Kevin and I _did_ like each other, you would have no business in that. You can't tell me who I can and can't like, little girl. So I suggest you keep your nose out of other people's business before it gets you into trouble."

Miley was shocked. Brandi didn't usually get that way with her. They were pretty close, but lately Brandi had been distant, and it all seemed to stem from when she met Kevin. Miley knew that something was going on, and she didn't want that to happen.

"You can't honestly tell me nothing is going on with the two of you," Miley retorted.

"I _can_ honestly say that, Miley. We're just friends. Believe it or not, girls and guys can be _just friends_ if they want to. He's a guy who's my age that's really cool. That's it," Brandi told her.

"Then why did you get so defensive?" Miley asked.

"Because, Miley. You can't just go assuming things about people. If you'd stop thinking about Nick for 5 seconds, maybe you would realize what was going on," Brandi said and stepped out of Miley's room.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Miley yelled. Her only response was hearing Brandi's door slam shut.

Miley finished getting ready and headed downstairs. She left a note for her parents, who were out that day and grabbed her jacket off the back of the couch and headed for the Jonas' new house.

---------

"Hey!" Nick said when he answered the door and saw Miley. He grabbed her in a big hug and spun her around. With one hand around her waist and one on the back of her neck, he set her down and pulled her close. "I missed you," he whispered.

"I missed you, too," she replied in a whisper. She sent chills down his spine with her words and she felt him tense up. "Do you like that?" she whispered again.

"Not funny, Miley," Nick said and pulled away from her and walked her into the house.

"This looks great!" Miley exclaimed as she walked into the door. Even though the furniture was it, it wasn't organized at all. There were bags and boxes of things everywhere and a few large trash bags here and there, but it really was just a beautiful house.

"Very funny," Denise said, walking into the living room to greet Miley. "How are you sweetie?" she asked with a hug.

"I'm good. Nicholas here told me ya'll could use some help," Miley said and poked Nick in the side.

"Of course!" Denise replied. "Nick, your bags are up in your room. She can help you make your bed and everything."

"Alright," Nick said and grabbed Miley's hand and led her upstairs to his room.

"Your mother is very trusting of you, isn't she?" Miley asked as the entered his room.

"What do you mean?" Nick asked, confused.

"She just sent me and you up here all by ourselves," Miley said, raising an eyebrow. Nick just laughed and turned to face her.

"I'm probably the only one she can do that with. Kevin and Joe aren't allowed to have girls in their rooms, unless other people are in there, too. And I'm technically not supposed to, but my mom trusts me a lot. And she trusts you," Nick said, squeezing her hand a little tighter.

"Well that's cool!" Miley said as she pulled out his sheets from one of the bags on the floor. "These are so cute!" she exclaimed.

"Great. Now I have to get new ones!" Nick said.

"Why?" Miley asked, looking up at him.

"I can't have _cute_ sheets!" he said sarcastically as he pretended to puff up his chest. "I need _manly_ sheets!"

"Shut up. I just meant that I liked them!" Miley said. They were a navy, white and dark green plaid print and his comforter was navy blue with music note patches of the same material his sheets were made of sewn into the fabric. "Where did you find this?"

"Target, but Mom sewed the patches on. She does all kinds of crafty stuff like that for us," Nick told her. They made his bed and Nick realized what he had done by bringing her into his room. She would find out that he could see her room out of his window! "Let's sit down," Nick told her, trying to keep her away from the window.

They each went to one side of the bed and fell backwards, so they were laying down. They propped themselves up on their arms and faced each other, making Miley face Nick and the wall behind him, while he could see her and the window. They made small talk for awhile. After it was silent for a few moments, Nick told her what he'd been waiting to tell her.

"So I got a call the other day," he started.

"From who?"

"This guy who works for D-life," Nick told her.

"D-life?" Miley asked.

"It's an organization for teens with diabetes."

"Oh, what'd he want?"

"He wants the Jonas Brothers to play at a concert in New York, in March."

"How'd they know you have diabetes?" Miley asked, stunned.

"They don't know. They just asked because a lot of people were asking for us," Nick said. He looked down at the comforter and played with one of the patches. Miley reached over and grabbed his hand.

"I think you should do it," Miley said firmly.

"But if I do, I'll have to tell everyone that I have diabetes!" Nick told her.

"Then tell everyone. Nick, come on. Do you know what this would mean to your fans?"

"I don't think I can do it, Miley."

"Of course you can. You can do anything," she smiled at him and he smiled back. They just looked at each other for a moment. Each of them subconsciously moved forward a little, and then a little more. They were so close. She could feel his breath on her lips. They started to close their eyes and lean in a little more.

"Hey Nick, could you come help me with—Whoa!" Kevin yelled as he walked into Nick's room and turned right back around. Nick and Miley's eyes flung open and they looked at each other nervously, and then at Kevin.

"What?" Nick asked, a little angrily.

"Sorry, if I would have known, and you, that, I mean, I just," Kevin sputtered out.

"What did you need?" Nick asked again.

"I, umm, oh, never mind. I'll go ask Joe," he said as he left. After he was gone, Miley and Nick looked back and each other and started laughing. Sure, their first kiss was interrupted, but they both had to admit, Kevin's reaction was almost priceless.

"I guess we should take that as a sign?" Miley asked Nick.

"Probably," Nick replied. "Next time, we'll be more careful, though."

"What if it would have been your mom?" Miley asked.

"It probably wouldn't have been a big deal. I mean, she obviously would have stopped it, right?" Nick laughed and kissed Miley's hand.

"Yeah, I guess. Wait…a next time?" Miley asked with a raised eyebrow and a huge grin on her face.

"Yeah?" Nick asked, a little confused.

"Who say's there's going to be a next time?" Miley questioned jokingly.

"Oh you can count on it, missy," Nick replied. "That's for sure."

"Kids, lunch is here!" Kevin Sr. called up the stairs. Nick and Miley heard what Miley called a 'herd of elephants' rushing down the stairs. The two of them calmly walked out of his room and down the stairs into the kitchen. Joe was already stuffing his face with the monster burger that his dad ordered him. Kevin wasn't far behind Joe with the face stuffing. Frankie was surprisingly waiting patiently at the counter for his mom to put his meal on a plate.

"So how's the room coming?" Denise asked as she handed Nick and Miley each a plate with a burger on it.

"We made the bed," Miley said, and then turned to Nick. He paused.

"What else did you get done?" Denise asked again.

"Just the bed," Nick laughed. Denise gave him the look and he held his hands up in surrender. "I promise, Mom." She just smiled at him.

"Go on, go sit in the living room with your brothers. And don't get anything on the carpet!" Denise told the two of them. They walked out and saw Joe, Kevin, and Frankie all sitting on the floor with the TV on. Joe had _insisted_ that the TV be the first thing installed. It wasn't even up on the entertainment center yet, just on the floor, but it was nice to have some kind of noise while everyone was eating.

"I don't want to watch this!" Frankie whined. Kevin threw him the remote. As Frankie was skimming the channels, Disney happened to be one of them. Frankie didn't stop, but Joe grabbed the remote from his youngest brother and turned it back.

"You get the BEST of both worlds," sang the blonde on the TV.

"Turn it off," Miley told Joe.

"No way. How cool is this? We can watch Hannah Montana, and Miley Stewart, and Miley CYRUS!" Joe exclaimed.

"You're ridiculous!" Nick told Joe and tried to take the remote from him.

"Nope, we're watching it," Joe replied, sitting on the remote.

"Whatever," Miley muttered as she bit into her sandwich. It's not like she was embarrassed that she was Hannah Montana, but she didn't really like to watch herself on TV. It was weird.

What was worse, was the episode. It was all about Miley Stewart trying to impress an older guy and making him like Hannah Montana. Sure, it was a fine episode, but it was Miley with another guy, and Nick was getting jealous, even if it was _just_ acting.

"Turn it off," Nick told Joe after they'd had it on for about 5 minutes.

"Not a chance," Joe replied. Nick tried to ignore it, but when he saw Miley flop on the couch and strike a pose for the guy, and he said she was hot, he lost it. He got up and turned the TV off. Joe just turned it back on, so Nick unplugged it and stormed off into the kitchen with his half full plate of food.

"What was that about?" Joe asked to everyone in the living room. Kevin shrugged, but Miley knew. She excused herself and walked into the kitchen with her plate as well. Nick was sitting at the counter talking to his mom.

"I'm so stupid, Mom, but I just couldn't help myself. And I can't tell her because--" Nick was saying before Denise cut him off. She looked up and saw Miley in the doorway.

"I think you need to tell her," Denise looked at Nick and said.

"But I can't!" Nick desperately whined.

"Yes, you can," she informed him and pointed to Miley standing behind him. He turned around and saw her standing there, waiting for him to say something. He said nothing.

"Tell me what?" Miley finally asked.

"I'll be out in the living room if you need me," Denise said quietly and exited.

"Tell me what?" Miley asked again.

"Nothing," Nick said, turning his back to her and taking a bite of his burger.

"It's not nothing, Nick. What's going on?" she asked as she walked over to him and placed her plate on the counter next to him and took a seat.

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Well I do want to talk about it. What happened in there?" she asked even though she already knew.

"I just, I just lost it," he said, looking up at her.

"No kidding. Why?" Miley asked.

"Because, you were, and, it's stupid," Nick mumbled.

"Nick, tell me," she pleaded with him.

"Because that guy called you hot, and I just couldn't take it!" Nick spilled out. Miley just smiled at him.

"Nick, it's just a show. It's not real," she started to say.

"But he _really_ said that to you. I mean, I can't blame him, you are, but I don't like when other people say that about you. It's like you _belong_ to them or something, which you don't," Nick huffed out. Miley, even though she knew the reason, was still taken aback by the things Nick had just said. She placed a hand over his.

"I don't belong to them, Nick. I belong to you," she said softly. He was surprised by what she had just said. _She_ was surprised that she had really just said that to him.

"Do you mean that?" Nick asked her hopefully.

"Well I guess technically I don't belong to anyone. But I wouldn't mind if it was you," she told him. This time it was Miley who was embarrassed.

"I wouldn't mind if it was me, either," Nick chuckled at her and pulled her into a somewhat awkward hug since they were both sitting down. They pulled away and looked at each other and as their faces came closer and closer and closer, their hearts started beating faster and faster and faster. But of course, nothing is ever that perfect.

"Dude, I'm really sorry about earlier and I—Never mind," Joe said as he walked into the kitchen and right back out. Nick and Miley pulled away and laughed again.

"Today is just not our day, huh?" Nick asked her.

"I don't think it is, Nick, I don't think it is."

---------

They all finished their lunches and went back to unpacking. Nick needed to keep Miley out of his room as long as possible, or at least until it got dark so she couldn't see out the window. They helped Frankie unpack all of his stuffed animals and books and toys and that took a good 2 hours. Joe still hadn't done anything to his room but plug his TV in and set up his XBOX, so Miley and Nick helped him unpack some of his stuff as well, mostly while he sat on the floor and played his game.

It was finally dark, and Miley had been begging Nick to let her help more with his room. They went back to his room and they unpacked his books and pictures and stuff like that.

"There aren't any pictures of us," Miley told him.

"We haven't taken any!" Nick told her.

"Let's take one now, then!" she said, getting excited.

"Nah, I look like crap. We'll do it tomorrow," he replied, driving a nail into the wall to hang a picture of him and Joe when they were younger, wrestling.

"Does that mean we have plans tomorrow?" Miley asked him, grabbing another picture frame out of the box.

"If you want," he said, looking back at her.

"Of course!" she said. She looked down at the picture in her hands and cracked up. "That's the funniest thing I've ever seen!" It was a picture of Kevin, Joe, and Nick in their Halloween costumes when they were younger. Nick was dressed up as Blue from Blue's Clues.

"Hey! I was a cute Blue!" Nick defended.

"You know, Blue is a girl," Miley told him.

"But I didn't know that when I was 5!" Nick said.

"I was Magenta that year," Miley told him while she handed him the frame.

"You're kidding me?" Nick laughed.

"Nope. I _loved_ Blue's Clues, but my favorite color at the time was pink. So I was Magenta," Miley explained to him.

"That's adorable," Nick told her as he hammered another nail into the wall. Miley kept handing him the frames and Nick kept hanging them up. Miley would have something to say about every picture she came across and Nick would have to explain himself for most of them. When they were done, they both took a step back and looked at the wall. All around the back wall with the window in the middle, there were pictures of Nick, his friends, and his family. They admired their good work as Nick put an arm around Miley. She leaned into him a bit and put her head on his shoulder.

"Tired?" he asked.

"No," she yawned.

"Liar," he laughed.

"Really, I'm not. Not when I'm with you," Miley said softly as she looked up at him. He smiled at her.

"Now we have to take them all down."

"What? Why!" Miley exclaimed, moving out from under his arm.

"We have to paint tomorrow," Nick told her.

"Then why the heck did we do this tonight?" Miley asked him, her hands on her hips.

"I wanted to keep you here as long as I could," Nick told her. She tried to look angry, but it wasn't working.

"You're so cute!" she said and pinched his cheek.

"Hey, I try!" he said and then paused. "So are you coming over tomorrow to help me paint?"

"Do you want me to?" she asked.

"No, Miley. I asked if you were going to so that I could tell you that I didn't want you here," Nick said sarcastically.

"Yeah," she laughed. "I'll be here. What time?"

"Can't you just stay?" Nick pleaded, of course joking with her.

"I'd love to, Jonas, but I just can't," she said, ruffling his hair.

"Why do you call me that?" Nick asked, going to sit on his bed. Miley followed him and sat down next to him. They both flopped backwards and were laying on their backs, side by side.

"Cause it's your last name, silly! Or did you forget?" Miley smiled.

"But it's also my brothers' last name."

"Duh," she said, wondering where he was going with this.

"I don't know, it just makes me think of you talking to my brothers," he sighed.

"And that bothers you because?" Miley started to say.

"It doesn't. I just want to think of you when you are here, not my brothers," Nick said and grabbed her hand.

"Okay, weirdo," Miley laughed and poked him in the side. He laughed, too, and poked her back. Before long, the poking had turned into tickling. "Nick! Stop!" Miley squealed.

"Not a chance!" Nick said as he shifted his weight so he was mostly on top of her, holding her down.

"Really, I can't breathe!" she gasped.

"Fine, fine," Nick said and stopped tickling her. He was, however, still leaning over her a little. She pulled a stand of curly hair behind her ear and caught her breath. Nick swallowed loudly. Miley bit down on her bottom lip, all the while looking at each other. Nick leaned down and got closer. She leaned up a little to meet him and they both closed their eyes.

"Hey, Miley, you sister just called and—You guys! Close the door!" Kevin yelled as Nick jumped off of Miley and they both sat up and turned a bright shade of red. "Seriously. You need to be smoother about this whole thing."

"It was fine until you walked in," Nick said under his breath. Miley elbowed him in the side.

"Anyway, Miley, your sister called and said you weren't answering your phone, but you needed to come home," Kevin told her.

"Thanks, Kev," Miley said standing up. Kevin left and Miley stood in front of Nick who was still sitting on the bed.

"Come here," he said and held a hand out. Miley grabbed it and he pulled her to him. She stood at the edge of the bed with one of Nick's legs on either side of hers. He hugged her waist and put his head on her stomach. She fluffed his curls a little bit.

"Certainly a memorable day, wasn't it?" Miley said. Nick just grunted into her midsection. "If I wasn't wrong, I'd think you just wanted to touch my stomach," Miley said and giggled.

"Maybe," Nick said and pulled her tighter, if that was possible.

"Nicholas!" Miley said and pushed him off a little so she could look at his face.

"Can you blame me?" he pleaded with her and stuck his bottom lip out.

"Fine," she said, and touched his nose with the tip of her finger and then turned to walk away. Nick stood up and followed her. He grabbed her before she could walk out of his room and placed his hands around her waist. He put his head on Miley's shoulder and she leaned her head back a little to put hers on his shoulder as well.

"Besides," he whispered. "You know if you got the chance to get close to my abs, you'd want to, too."

"Nicholas!" Miley squealed and turned around to slap him on the chest.

"Hey!" he said rubbing the place she hit him. "You know I'm right."

"Whatever," she said and turned to walk out of the room.

"Tell me I'm right," Nick said.

"No," she said as she walked down the hallway to the steps. He was close behind.

"Tell me I'm right, Miley," he said again.

"Nope," she laughed and ran down the stairs.

"Tell me I'm right, Miley!" Nick laughed loudly.

"Right about what?" Joe asked, who happened to be in the living room.

"Nothing," Miley and Nick said at the same time.

"Thank you so much for letting me come over, Mrs. Jonas," Miley said as she hugged Denise. "Where is Mr. Jonas?"

"He went to bed early. He was quite tired from today and we still have a lot of moving to do tomorrow," Denise explained.

"Oh, well tell him I said thank you as well!" Miley said and waved at Denise as her and Nick walked out the front door.

"Come back soon, Miley!" Denise called after them.

Nick walked Miley back to her house, the whole way badgering her about telling him he was right.

"Miley, you know you want this," he motioned to his body and winked at her as they passed under a street light.

"Fine. Is that all you want? Is for me to want your body?" Miley asked.

"Yes!" Nick told her. They both stopped walking so they were just barely in the light.

"Nicholas Jonas! I want your body! I want to touch your abs! I want to be able to run my fingers through your hair whenever I want! I want to be able to call you 6 times a day and you not get annoyed with me! I want you to never have to leave, to just stay here forever with me! I want you, Nick!" Miley yelled in the middle of the street at him. He just stood there, dumbstruck and not having any idea what to say. "I want all of you, Nick," she said softly after he refused to speak.

Miley hung her head and looked at the ground. She had gone a little overboard, hadn't she? Now Nick was freaking out. Well, not really freaking since he wasn't doing _anything_! She looked back up at him and he was still just staring at her.

"I'm going home," Miley said in defeat. As she turned to walk away, Nick snapped out of the trance that he had been in and grabbed her hand. He pulled her back to him and before either one of them knew it, they were close; real close. There was no space whatsoever in between their bodies that seemed to fit so perfectly together. Miley was only a little shorter than Nick, so she didn't have to look up at him very much.

"I want all of you, too," Nick said and leaned down into her. Miley leaned forward a little and their lips touched. It was soft, not rushed at all. After a few seconds, Nick pulled back and looked at Miley. He saw stars in her eyes as she looked back at him and he pulled her into another kiss. He grabbed the back of her head gently as they got closer with one hand and put the other on her waist. She placed both of her hands on his upper chest and then moved one of them up onto his neck.

When they finally pulled away, Nick had to hold Miley up because she had started to fall backward a little. He wasn't sure how he could hold her up, though, considering that his legs felt like pudding. Each of them had kissed people before, but it was nothing like this. It was by far the best kiss either had ever had. This was fantastic, incredible, amazing, and much like a fairy tale, but thankfully for the both of them, this was _real_.

"We should get you home," Nick said softly and slowly as he stepped back a little and grabbed onto her hand. She just nodded in agreement. They walked the rest of the way in silence, but words weren't really needed. "Well here we are," Nick said as they walked up the stairs to her porch.

"Yeah," Miley said, looking at him.

"Thanks for hanging out with me today," Nick said as he looked back at her.

"Of course," she smiled.

"I'll see you tomorrow?" Nick asked.

"I'll be there whenever you want me," Miley said.

"Well if that's the case, then we might as well go back to my house right now," he laughed a little and so did she.

"I would love to," she said as she grabbed his other hand as they stood facing each other.

"I'll see you tomorrow. Say, around ten?" Nick suggested.

"I'll be there," she smiled again and swayed back and forth a little.

"Goodnight, Miley," Nick said as the porch light turned on.

"Goodnight, Nick," Miley responded. All she wanted to do was lean over and kiss him again, but now her parents were watching, so that wasn't going to happen. Nick gave her one last squeeze of the hand and took off down the stairs back to his house. Miley smiled and waved when he reached the road and waved back to her. After she couldn't see Nick jogging up the street anymore, she walked into the house.

"Did you have fun today, Miley?" Tish asked her daughter.

"It was wonderful!" Miley said in a dreamy state and continued to walk.

"What did you do over there?" Brandi asked as Miley passed her as well.

"I fell in love," Miley sighed and walked up the stairs to her room.

"Great. Now Nick's going to have to die," Trace said and Brandi smiled at him.

"Trace, he's a nice boy," Tish said.

"Who's a nice boy?" Billy Ray asked, coming out of the bathroom.

"Nick," Brandi, Trace, and Tish all said at the same time. Billy Ray looked a little confused.

"Your daughter is in love," Tish informed him.

"Great!" Billy Ray exclaimed and clasped his hands together. The three of them looked at him questioningly, since he was usually so protective of her. "I've been looking for a good excuse to clean my guns!"

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Okay, so torturous, right? I was _actually_ going to make them wait longer for their first kiss, but even _I_ couldn't stand not seeing them together! I hope you guys liked it! Let me know which parts you liked, of course! I love the reviews! I'm not sure when I'll be able to update again, but it will certainly be updated this weekend at the latest. Love you all!


	14. Chapter 14

January 20, 2007

Nick and Miley had spent a lot of time together since their first kiss. They weren't official yet, but they both knew they were together. However, they were much more secretive about their few kisses that they got now.

Today, the Jonas family was having dinner over at Miley's house. The six of them arrived at around 5. Tish had already started dinner and Denise went in to help her. Billy Ray and Kevin Sr. got right into talking about their kids and music of course. Kevin Jr., Joe, Nick, and Frankie were all ushered by Noah into the back wing of the house that was basically Miley's. Yes, she has a separate _wing_ of the house. Everyone is welcome, but she has her own huge room, private bathroom, a living space, a small kitchen, and another bathroom off of that. Brandi and Trace's rooms weren't far from it though.

Miley, Trace, and Braison were in an intense game of Life, which you would think would not be that intense, but it really was. Brandi was lounging in the big armchair, playing on her guitar.

"They're here!" Noah yelled as she came into the room, pulling on Joe's hand.

"Hey," Miley, Trace, and Braison all said in a monotone voice without looking up. Brandi looked at her siblings and rolled her eyes. She looked back up at the brothers and apologized for them.

"Sorry. They really get into the game sometimes," she said, standing up.

"Oh, it's cool. I love this game!" Joe said and sat down on the floor with the rest of them.

"You can't just invite yourself into a game, Joe," Nick told him, sitting on the couch.

"We're almost done anyway," Miley said, still not looking up from the board.

Nick, Kevin, and Brandi talked for awhile. Noah had taken Frankie off to the other side of the room and they were playing Uno Attack!. When Life was finally over, Everyone joined in. Braison went first.

"Yes! A six! I get to go to a college party!" he exclaimed.

"Not a chance, bud," Brandi said and ruffled his hair. He scowled at her. They each took their turns and the game went on and on…and on. Joe ended up with the most kids of all of them.

"Help us all!" Kevin laughed as Joe showed off his 2 cars full of kids. Yes, he had to get another car to fit them all in. How that was possible, no one knew. Miley and Nick ended up with 4 kids each. Same gender, same order. Coincidence?

"Who knows…" Miley started to say.

"Hey, I already _have_ a wife," Nick said and pointed to the yellow figure in his car. Miley took his car from him and pulled out the yellow piece and replaced it with _her_ yellow piece from her car. Nick smiled at her and leaned in to kiss her, but she just offered her hand. Thankfully, no one was really paying attention to them, but if they would have been, it would have been a much bigger deal.

"Hey guys, dinner is ready," Tish said over the intercom. All the kids got up and rushed into the kitchen. "We're eating in the dining room." They all followed her into the dining room and sat down at the table. At the head of the table was Billy Ray, and to his right was Tish, next to her was Trace, then Brandi, Kevin, Frankie, and Denise. At the other end of the table was Kevin Sr. Next to him was Joe, then Braison, Nick, Miley, and Noah which brought it back to Billy Ray. That's a lot of people at one table!

"This is a huge table! Do you guys always have an extra six people at dinner?" Joe asked, perplexed by the sheer size of the large wooden table.

"It's usually just set for 8," Miley told him, "but we have these cool table extension things that you pull the table out and put the boards in the middle, and it makes it bigger. It can actually seat 20."

"That's insane!" Joe replied. They all just smiled or chuckled softly at his amazement.

"Would anyone like to volunteer to say the prayer?" Billy Ray asked the table.

"I would like to if you don't mind, Mr. Cyrus," Nick replied, almost embarrassed now that he had said anything.

"Go ahead. And please, it's Billy Ray," Miley's father replied. Everyone joined hands and bowed their heads.

"Dear Lord, we thank you for this day and this night. We thank you for bringing us together for this wonderful dinner that our mom's cooked. We thank you for allowing us to be neighbors and to be fortunate enough to live in a safe neighborhood. Lord, we thank you for our good fortune and our good health. We thank you for everything you have given us. And _I_ thank you for this wonderful girl sitting next to me and her wonderful family being brought into my life," Nick said as he brushed the top of Miley's hand with his thumb. "Amen."

"Amen," everyone replied. Billy Ray squeezed Tish's hand as he let go and she gave him a warning look, as if to say _"He's a nice boy, leave him alone!"_

The dinner went nicely. Conversation through out the table flowed relatively well. Denise and Kevin Sr. helped Tish and Billy Ray clean up after dinner was over and the kids went into the living room. Being the musicians that all of them are, they each picked up an instrument, Miley, Brandi, Trace, and Kevin on guitar and Nick on the piano. Joe, Frankie, Braison and Noah didn't have instruments, but they all sat mixed in with the others. Their parents came in shortly after to find their kids playing around with song ideas.

"Play it! Please play it, Kevin!" Frankie begged his brother.

"Frank, it's not Christmas anymore!" Kevin told him.

"I don't care! I want you to play it!" he said. "It's funny!"

"Fine," Kevin said and started the melody on the guitar he had borrowed from Trace. He looked at his younger brother and Nick started to play along on the piano.

"1, 2, 3, 4," Nick started.

"I want a hippopotamus for Christmas. A hippopotamus is all I want. I don't want a dog, or a rhinoceros; all I want for Christmas is a hippopotamus. And a hippopotamus wants me too," Joe and Nick started to sing. When they had finished their little rendition of Frankie's favorite song, everyone was clapping and laughing.

"How did you guys come up with that?" Braison asked them.

"Joe made a joke about getting a hippopotamus a few years ago for Christmas and we just went from there," Kevin told him.

"My turn to sing!" Noah exclaimed and jumped up.

"What do you want to sing, baby?" Miley asked her sister as Brandi got up and sat next to Nick on the piano bench.

"Hannah!" Noah said, her eyes getting big. Every one chuckled a little bit.

"Which one?" Brandi asked her as she put her fingers on the keys.

"Who Said!" Noah yelled. Brandi got up from the piano and picked her guitar back up. Her and Miley started playing the rhythm. Trace chose not to play Hannah songs if he could get out of it. Kevin joined in once he saw what they were doing.

"Go ahead, Noah, sing!" Miley said.

"Sing with me! You and Brandi!" she said.

"You start," Miley told her.

"Who said, who said, I can't be superman? I say, I say, that I know I can!" Noah sang. She wasn't the best, but she loved singing almost as much as Miley did. Miley and Brandi started singing the next lines with her.

"Who said, who said, I won't be president? I say, I say, you ain't seen nothin' yet!" they all sang. By this time, Noah was strutting around the living room like Hannah would have. She was so cute when she did things like that.

"Go on and make some noise," she sang by herself. "Every girl has her choice. To lead her own parade, I do it my way!" Noah looked at her sister, a little unsure of what the next words were. Miley looked at her and picked it up.

"I can be soft and sweet, or louder than the radio," Miley sang by herself this time. "I can be sophisticated, or totally go."

"Totally go, outta control!" the three girls sang together. They sang the chorus again and ended it. Every one was clapping and laughing.

"I believe we have way too much talent in this room," Denise said.

"I would have to agree," Tish said. "But it sure is nice to have deeper voices in this house."

"You know what would be awesome?" Joe exclaimed suddenly.

"What?" the majority of them asked.

"If the Jonas Brothers did a song with Hannah Montana!" he said.

"You know, that sounds like a good idea," Billy Ray said, contemplating. He looked at Kevin Sr.

"I say let's go for it!" he said.

They played around with a few ideas, but they soon realized that Frankie and Noah were no longer with the rest of them. They looked around for them and found them asleep on the game room floor.

"I think this means that we need to get going," Denise said as Joe picked up his little brother and threw him over his shoulder. "We had a wonderful time."

"We loved having you over. We really will have to do this more often," Tish told her, grabbing her hand.

"Of course. You know the number," Denise said as she was putting on her coat. "Let's go boys!"

Kevin Sr. thanked the Cyrus family for having them over as well and went out to start the car. Denise followed him out and Joe wasn't far behind.

"Come on, guys. Off to bed," Tish told Noah and Braison.

"But Miley isn't going to bed!" Braison said.

"She will in just a little bit," Tish said and looked at her daughter. Miley mouthed a 'thank you'.

After Tish had taken the littler ones out, Trace left as well, but not before giving Nick and Kevin both dirty looks. Nick and Miley stayed where they were at the piano and Brandi and Kevin went to one corner of the room.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Kevin asked Brandi. She had her arms crossed and he had his hands on her upper arms, rubbing them up and down.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. I just need to talk to my mom about it," Brandi said, looking down at the ground.

"It'll be fine. This is not your fault, Brandi," he explained to her.

"I know, it's just hard to talk about," she said looking up at him.

"You'll be fine," Kevin said and pulled her into a hug. She rested her head on his shoulder.

"Thanks," she mumbled into his chest.

"Anytime," he said, rubbing her back, "anytime."

"What's going on with them?" Nick asked Miley as they looked over at Kevin and Brandi.

"I have no idea. It's so weird!" Miley said.

"Thanks for having us over tonight," Nick said and grabbed Miley's hand. She smiled. "I've wanted to do that all night."

"I've wanted you to!" Miley responded.

"When's the next time I'll see you?" Nick asked.

"I'm not sure. I've got some stuff going on. I'll be at the studio all day tomorrow and then we have some major stuff for the show to be filmed. They want to tape a whole show in 3 days!"

"That's insane. Have fun with that," Nick chuckled.

"I will. I always have fun when I'm at work," Miley said.

"So I'll see you in a few days then?" Nick asked her, hoping the answer would be sooner.

"Yeah, probably. I hate it, but I think that's what's going to happen," Miley explained to him. "But then I'm off from everything for a few days after all that."

"So when you're done with all of that, do you want to help me paint my room?" Nick asked her.

"Of course!" she said. "And I'll call you on all of my breaks!"

"Just whenever you can. I'll be fine. Just chillin' with the boys."

"Well _you_ have fun with _that_," Miley said and her and Nick both laughed.

"Call me tomorrow?" Nick asked her as he stood up when he realized Kevin and Brandi were done and Kevin was waiting on Nick.

"Yeah, I will. Bye, Nick," Miley said.

"Bye, Miley," he said, wanting to kiss her so badly, but not being able to. He blew her a small one and she caught it and put it in her pocket.

Nick and Kevin left and Miley and Brandi went upstairs. As Brandi broke off and went to open her door, Miley stopped and turned back around.

"What's going on, B?" she asked. Brandi wouldn't look at her.

"Nothing," she responded without emotion.

"Brandi. Something is wrong. Please just tell me," Miley said and placed a hand on Brandi's arm. Miley waited for a second and saw a tear fall from Brandi's cheek to the floor. She grabbed her older sister in a hug and they both walked into Brandi's room where she told Miley everything that was going on.

"You have to tell Mom," Miley told her.

"I know, I just, I really don't know how," Brandi said, drying up her eyes with a Kleenex.

"Just tell her. I can be there if you want me to."

"No, it's okay. I'm going to try to handle this on my own first. Then we'll see."

"Tell Mom," Miley said sternly.

"I will. Just give me a little time," Brandi said. Miley left her sister in her room to go to her own. If she had known what was going on, she wouldn't have bothered her about it. Miley just hoped that Brandi would tell someone; and soon.

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January 25, 2007

"This is an awesome color!" Miley said as she opened the paint can in Nick's room. They had moved all of the furniture out and had the carpet covered with plastic and all the trim decorated with painters tape. Denise gave Miley and Nick the task of painting his room together. She knew it would mean more to Nick if he got to do it himself.

"It's gray," Nick said, looking at the paint.

"It's not gray. It's a light slate blue. It will look bluer on the walls, I promise," she said and smiled at him.

"Only if you promise," he said and raised an eyebrow.

"Of course!" she exclaimed and he leaned over and kissed her on the cheek.

"Okay, if you say so," Nick said.

"And I get the roller!" Miley said, snatching the painting equipment before Nick could reach it.

"That means I have to do the trim," Nick whined.

"Too bad you weren't fast enough," she teased as she poured the paint into the tray and stuck the roller in it. She began painting the wall that his bed used to be on and Nick started on the wall with all of the nails sticking out, since it would have to be done with a paint brush anyway.

"This is kinda fun," Nick said after awhile.

"It is, but my arms are getting tired," Miley said, rolling slower and slower each time.

"Come here, take a break," he said, looking over at her.

"No, I'll keep going until I'm done with this section," she told him. Then he had a brilliant idea. After a few moments of silence, Nick stopped painting and looked at her.

"Hey, can you tell me if I'm doing this right?" he asked.

"I'm sure it's fine, Nick," Miley said, not taking her eyes off the wall.

"I'm _not_ so sure. Just come look at it, please?" he asked her gently. She smiled to herself and put the roller down. She turned around and started to walk over to Nick's wall, but as she saw what he had done, she started walking slower and slower, her eyes glued to the wall.

"Nick…" she breathed out and put her hand over her heart.

"So? Will you?" Nick softly asked and nodded to the wall. Written with bluish gray paint on the white wall simply read "Will you be my girlfriend?" with 2 boxes underneath with a yes next to one and a no next to the other. He smiled at her as she came to a complete halt right in front of it.

"Give me your paintbrush," she said. He gave it to her and she put a big X in the 'yes' box. She turned around and it was her turn to smile now as she dropped the brush on the floor. "Yes."

"Oh, thank the Lord!" Nick said as he hugged her tight and spun her around once. "I thought for a minute you were either going to say no or have a stroke!"

"Nicholas!" she said as she lightly slapped him on the chest. "How could I ever say no to something that adorable?"

"Yeah, I guess you're right," he blushed slightly. Then Miley slapped him again. "What was that one for?"

"For not asking me sooner!" she said and they both laughed. "I think we need to get back to painting."

"You're probably right," Nick said as he grabbed the paintbrush off the ground. Miley grabbed her roller and went back to painting the other wall. They took a lunch break after the 2 walls were done. Nick had wanted to keep the "girlfriend wall," as he was now calling it, the way it was, but Miley told him he'd have to paint over it, only after they took a picture, of course!

"How's the room looking?" Denise asked the new couple as they sat and ate at the kitchen counter. They both looked at each other and blushed.

"Good," Nick said with a mouth full of food. Miley laughed at him.

"We have 2 walls done already. Now we have to do the other wall with the window and the wall with the closet and door on it, so we don't have too much more to do. We may need a second coat, though, because the paint is a little thin," Miley told Denise.

"You know a lot about painting, don't you?" Denise asked her.

"When I was little and living in Tennessee, we were always painting something. The fence, the house, my grandma's house, but the worst was the barn," Miley laughed.

"Sounds like it," Denise said. "Well let me know if you need any help!" Denise said as she walked out of the kitchen.

"We will!" Nick called to her and then looked at Miley, "we don't need her help, do we baby?"

"Baby?" she asked him.

"I, umm, I mean, I just meant that, since we, you know, and I didn't, I just," he stuttered.

"You are so freaking cute when you get nervous!" Miley said and kissed him on the cheek.

"I try," he said. "OH!" Nick exclaimed after a few seconds.

"What?" Miley said, and looked a little concerned.

"I have to show you the music room. That's what me and you are painting next," Nick informed her as he grabbed their empty plates and put them in the sink and then grabbed her hand.

"Nick, don't you think we should wait awhile to paint another room. I mean, what will you ask me in this one? To marry you? I think we should at least wait a month," Miley laughed at herself. Nick didn't think it was _nearly_ as funny as she did, but he laughed anyway.

"Come on," he said, dragging her into the room. It already had Nick's keyboard set up, since the piano was going to be in the living room when it was delivered next week. All of their guitars were lined up along one wall, and Nick's drums were set up in the corner. Miley looked around and checked out their gear.

"This is really nice stuff!" Miley said, picking up an acoustic. "Is this one yours?"

"Yeah, that was my first good quality guitar I bought," Nick told her as she sat down on the floor with it. He sat down across from her as she strummed on it a little. They were silent for a minute.

"Are you going to do the charity?" she asked Nick. He was a little shocked, to say the least.

"I still don't know," he said after a few moments.

"I still think you should," Miley told him, looking up at him and taking her hands off the strings.

"In theory, it's great. But what if the fans don't take it well," Nick said.

"You just have to trust them, Nick. If they _are_ really fans, it won't matter," she told him, and he knew she was right.

"I'm still just really scared to come out with it," he said and Miley started playing again.

"I wrote this for you," Miley said.

"Really?" Nick asked, listening closely to the melody.

"Yeah. I started it right after I came to see you in the hospital. I've been working on it a lot lately, though. Since you told me about the charity," Miley informed him.

"Well, let's hear it, then," Nick said, nervous about what she had to say, or sing for that matter.

"Mmk," she said and started playing more loudly. She closed her eyes and got into the rhythm. "It's easy to feel like you're all alone, to feel like nobody knows. The great that you are, the good that's inside you, is trying so hard to break through," she sang as Nick listened intently. She opened her eyes and looked at him and continued to sing, "maybe it's your time to lift off and fly, you won't know if you never try." Then she stopped playing. She was starting to tear up.

"Miley, keep going," Nick told her, reassuringly.

"I will be there with you all of the way. You'll be fine," she sang. "Don't let anyone tell you that you're not strong enough. Don't give up, there's nothing wrong with just being yourself; that's more than enough," she stopped again. She took a few deep breaths and looked at Nick again. He was mesmerized by her and her ability to capture his heart. His eyes were starting to water.

"Go on," he choked out softly. She nodded at him.

"So come on and raise your voice. Speak your mind and make some noise, and sing," she sang as she continued to play the guitar and took a few more breaths to calm herself down. "You can't just sit back and watch the world change, what matters is what you've got to say. There's no one else who can stand in your place, so come on it's never too late," she paused. "Maybe it's your time to lift off and fly, you won't know if you never try," she concluded. She closed her eyes to hold back the tears and when she opened them, she looked right at Nick, who had tears in his. Miley started to put the guitar to the side.

"Miley," Nick breathed out softly and he got up on his knees and inched over to her. She did the same and he pulled her into a tight hug. "That was incredible," he whispered in her ear as he grabbed her by the waist and the back of her head. She wrapped her arms around his neck and ran her fingers through his curls. They just held each other for awhile; Miley crying and Nick trying not to, but not winning that battle.

"I was so scared for you, Nick," she whispered back after awhile. "I just--" she started to say and started sobbing again.

"Shhhh, it's okay, baby," Nick tried to sooth her, but his voice was cracked. She pulled away a little to look at him and the sight just broke her heart. He was trying so hard not to get upset, but it was obvious that he was. But not in a bad way, and she knew that. They both relaxed a little and sat down on their legs, still facing each other and holding hands.

"You need to do this, Nick," Miley told him.

"Okay," he said. She was shocked that he gave up so easily.

"Really?" she questioned.

"Really. You're right. I'm the only one that can do this. And as long as you're with me, I'll be fine. I can't just let the world pass me by because of my diabetes. I'll do it," he explained to her.

"Thank you, Nick," Miley said, really appreciating him listening to her.

"No, Miley. Thank you. You've done more for me than you will ever know," he said and smiled at her. "Let's go paint some more," he said with a wink after a few moments.

"That sounds like a wonderful idea, baby," she replied. Hand in hand, they walked back up the stairs and into his room to start painting again. Thankfully for Nick, his mom had put cardboard in the windows so that they wouldn't get paint on the glass, but more importantly for Nick, unbeknownst to his mother of course, Miley couldn't see out his window. He'd save that for another day.

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Thank you all for the reviews! As always, let me know what you liked! I promise Brandi's problem will be resolved soon…and it has nothing to do with Kevin, he's just there to support her. Also, Nick and Miley are official now! Yay! But you know there's bound to be some sort of trouble with the 2 of them. Remember to review!


	15. Chapter 15

February 2, 2007

The past week, well, basically since Nick and his family had moved in, Miley and Nick were inseparable. They were literally together at least 75 of their waking hours, either at her house or his.

"Good morning, beautiful," Nick said into the phone. Miley was still in bed and had put her phone on speaker.

"Urgh muferd," Miley groaned.

"Come on, get up. I have a surprise for you!" Nick said, excitedly. She never understood how he was _such_ a morning person.

"Nick, it's like," Miley said and paused as she opened her eyes and looked at her clock, "it's 8 in the morning! Let me sleep!"

"Not a chance. Come let me in," Nick said.

"What?" Miley asked, thinking she hadn't heard him right.

"Come let me in. I'm walking to your house," he told her.

"_Fine_," she said and trudged out of bed. She walked down the stairs and into the living room.

"Good morning," Trace said.

"Morning," Miley deadpanned. "Where are Mom and Dad?" she asked him. They were usually up by now.

"They went out for something, not sure what, though. You look nice," Trace laughed at her. It was then that Miley realized she probably looked like crap.

"Oh no!" Miley said and ran into the bathroom. Her hair was everywhere and she had on sweatpants and an old t-shirt of her dad's. "Trace! Let Nick in when he gets here! I have some work to do!" Miley yelled at her older brother. He walked over to the bathroom door.

"He's coming here? Now?" Trace asked. Miley nodded. "Why?"

"Because he wants to see me. But not like this!" Miley said, trying to tame her hair.

"If he wants to see you at 8 in the morning, I'm sure he'll see you any way that you are, Miles," Trace told her. He was really protective, but he liked Nick so far. He hadn't done anything to upset Miley, yet.

"Trace!" Miley whined to him. "Please?" she pouted her bottom lip out at him.

"Nope! Walking away!" Trace chuckled as he left the doorway and went into the living room.

_Ding dong!_

"Oh my God! Trace please!" Miley yelled at him.

"Can't hear you!" Trace called back as he covered his ears, even though Miley couldn't see him.

"Ugh!" Miley screamed at him as she walked past him and to the door as she put her hair up in a ponytail. She opened the door and saw Nick standing there with a small bouquet of flowers. They were a yellow and white mix of roses, orchids, and pansies.

"Good morning, again," Nick said and held out the flowers for her to take.

"Good morning. What are these for?" Miley asked, taking them from him, giving him a quick hug, and closing the door as Nick walked inside. Trace looked like he was going to puke. This kid was too nice.

"It's Groundhog Day, Miley," Nick said, as if she should have known that. They walked into the kitchen and Miley grabbed a vase and filled it up with water.

"Okay?" she said, confused.

"I thought it was a good excuse to get you flowers," he replied.

"Well thank you very much," she said and gave him a quick peck on the lips.

"I'll have to get you flowers more often!" Nick said.

"Or just let me kiss you more often," Miley told him and wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him again.

"I think I could do that," Nick said and kissed her this time.

"Eh-hem!" Trace said as he 'cleared his throat' and walked past the kitchen. Nick jumped off of Miley and he turned about 50 shades of red. Miley laughed at him.

"Let's go upstairs!" Miley said and grabbed his hand.

"Are you sure that's okay?" Nick asked.

"My parents aren't home," Miley told him.

"Miley, I don't want us to get into trouble," Nick said to her. He was always the mind of reason.

"Fine. We'll go hang out in _my_ living room. That way, we have a _little privacy_!" she yelled the last part a little louder so Trace could hear her from where he was in the living room.

"You don't need any privacy," Trace said as he saw Miley and Nick walk out of the kitchen and towards the stairs.

"Trace," Miley warned. "I mean it."

"So do I," he said as he looked back at Miley, and then at Nick. Nick didn't say anything.

"Come on," Miley said as she grabbed Nick's hand and rushed up the stairs. They reached her room and she went inside.

"Miley, I thought," Nick started to say as she let go of his hand.

"I'm just getting my blanket!" she said, grabbed it, and started to walk out. "Here," she said and handed him the cover.

"What?" Nick asked, taking it from her.

"I need to brush my teeth! They're gross!" she laughed. He laughed back and he waited outside her room while she went into the bathroom. She came back out and they walked back down the stairs on the other side of the hallway down to her living room. Nick sat down on the couch and Miley grabbed the remote. She sat down next to him and bundled herself up in her covers and leaned into him. She turned on the TV and started surfing the channels.

"You warm enough in there," Nick joked with her as he tugged at the cover a little.

"Yup," Miley said and continued to look for something to watch. Then she stopped. "Did you want to come in here with me?" she smiled at him.

"If you don't mind," Nick said and kissed her cheek as she opened up the blanket to let him in. They settled on _Steel Magnolia's_, one of Miley's favorite movies. Nick wasn't as thrilled about it as she was, but he didn't completely hate sitting with his girlfriend under the warm covers for 2 hours.

"So, was it better than the last 100 times you've watched it?" Nick asked Miley when the movie was over. He didn't get a response and when he looked down at her sleeping in his lap, he couldn't help but smile. He wanted to wake her up, but he knew he had woken her up once already this morning, so he let her sleep for awhile. He turned on Fuse quietly and watched that for awhile.

Nick felt Miley stir a little and turned down the volume, but she was already awake. She opened her eyes and looked around, a little confused, and then looked up at Nick and smiled, remembering that he had come over to see her.

"Good morning, _again_!" Nick said as he helped her sit up.

"Why'd you let me fall asleep?" Miley asked.

"I didn't know you had until the movie was over!" Nick said. Miley started laughing. "What?" he asked her.

"You watched almost a whole hour of that movie when you didn't even have to!" she said.

"It was good," Nick somewhat lied to her.

"Whatever," she said and looked down at what she was wearing. "I need to go change."

"Why?" he asked.

"Because I'm still in my PJs!" she told him, as if he should have known.

"And?"

"And it's weird to be in PJs all day!"

"I like it," Nick said, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her towards him.

"I'm sure you do," she said.

"I didn't mean it like that, Miley," he told her, blushing a little.

"I know you didn't. I'm just messing with you!" Miley said and patted him on the shoulder. "So what are we doing today?"

"Why?" Nick asked. He was full of those today.

"Because I want to know what to wear!" Miley told him.

"Well, I figured we could go down to the beach if you wanted to," Nick said. Miley nodded her head in agreement. "Okay, then that's what we'll do. We'll figure the rest out later."

"Awesome. I'll be back in like 10 minutes," she said. Nick just looked at her. "Okay, fine, like 15!" They both laughed as she walked out of the room.

A little while later, Miley came out and was dressed in dark jeans, a white lightweight sweater, and a light blue jacket. She had white flip flops on, because even though it was February, they would take their shoes off once they got to the beach anyway. She had a little bit of makeup on, but not nearly as much as she usually did, and her big sunglasses were on top of her head and she had a white hat in her hand. She plopped down on the couch next to him and put her head on his shoulder.

"You still tired?" he asked her.

"Nope, just wanted to be next to you," she said and curled up into him.

"You look cute," he told her.

"Well thank you, Mr. Jonas. You don't look so bad yourself!" she said and traced a white curvy that went across his green shirt with her finger. "So, how are we getting there?" she asked him. He hadn't thought about that. They couldn't just walk anywhere they wanted to, especially in LA.

"Umm, well, we could ask Kevin?" Nick said, suggesting to Miley that he really didn't know.

"Great. I get all dressed up and have no where to go!" she over-exaggerated to Nick.

"I'll call him, hang on," Nick said and pulled out his phone. It rang a few times and Kevin picked up. Even though Nick had the phone to his ear, Miley could still hear Kevin, because he tended to talk loudly when he was on the phone.

"Hey bro, what's up?" Kevin said.

"Not much. Hey! I'm at Miley's. Do you think you could come pick us up and take us to the beach?" Nick asked his brother.

"Dude, you need to get a car!" Kevin whined into the phone.

"Getting a car wouldn't fix that I'm 14, Kev," Nick told him, chuckling to himself, and Miley laughed as well.

"Fine. I'll come pick you and your _girlfriend_ up," Kevin teased.

"Shut up!" Nick said into the phone. He blushed, but tried to hide it from Miley.

"I'll be there in a few," Kevin said.

"See ya," Nick said and hung up the phone before he could hear a goodbye from Kevin.

"Why'd you get embarrassed when Kevin told you that he'd come pick you and your _girlfriend_ up? Are you embarrassed of me, Nick?" Miley asked him, getting a little upset.

"No, not at all. I just haven't really told them that we are official yet," Nick said, starting to get nervous. He knew Miley was about to blow.

"Why not?!" she demanded to know as she stood up and looked at him. He looked so helpless on the couch with her towering over him, staring him down.

"I just haven't yet. I don't want to ruin this!" Nick said, trying to defend himself by standing up also.

"Ruin this? You think that telling people will ruin this? Nick, what's going on?" Miley asked him, putting her hands on her hips.

"If you want me to tell everyone, fine! I will!" Nick yelled, crossing his arms over his chest. "I just figured we could use some privacy!"

"Privacy? Nick! I'm not talking about calling up People magazine and wanting to do a spread about us. I'm talking about your family!" Miley said, not understanding.

"I told my mom," Nick said, trying to make Miley feel a little better. It didn't really work.

"Well la-de-freaking-da!" Miley said and flung her hands up in the air. "I told my whole family about you! I even called my Mamaw!" Miley said, getting really upset now. Her eyes were starting to glisten over and her face was starting to get blotchy.

"Miley! I just wanted to have it be us for awhile," he said, taking her in his arms. He had never yelled at her before like that. She had never yelled at him like that either. He held onto her, even though she wasn't holding him back. She kept her arms crossed and didn't lean into him. "Miley, please. I just wanted us to do our thing for awhile."

Miley eased up and leaned into him, but didn't grab a hold of him. He held her tighter and whispered in her ear.

"Miley, you're probably the best thing that's ever happened to me. Don't be mad at me, please?" he pleaded in a whisper with her. She smiled into his chest and uncrossed her arms and wrapped them around his back.

"I'm sorry," she finally said. "I'm just so excited about us and I wanted everyone to know."

"I understand. I just think we should try to keep it quiet for awhile," Nick said and kissed her quickly.

"Alright," she said and smiled at him. "So if people ask, we're just friends?"

"Yeah, just friends," Nick said, even though it pained him to say that to her.

"But we're more than just friends, aren't we?" Miley said with an evil grin.

"Oh yes we are!" Nick said and pulled her into another kiss, this time, a little longer.

"Mmmm," she said after she pulled away. "Thank goodness!"

"Come on," he said, grabbing her hand and leading her to the stairs. "Kevin will be here any minute!"

They went upstairs and saw Brandi in the kitchen with Noah and Braison.

"Hey guys! What's up?" Miley asked as they walked in.

"Not much. Just making lunch for the munchkins!" Brandi said.

"Hey!" Braison defended. He was, after all, 13. Brandi ignored him.

"What are you guys up to?" Brandi asked Miley and Nick.

"We're heading out to the beach," Miley told Brandi. Nick, even though he knew Brandi liked him, was still nervous around her family and didn't tend to say much.

"Cool, do I need to take you?" Brandi asked.

"No, Kev's coming to get us," Nick said, finally!

"Oh, alright. Well have fun!" Brandi said.

"We will!" Miley said as her and Nick went to exit the kitchen. They heard a car horn and assumed that it was Kevin. "You go ahead. I'll be there in a minute!" Nick nodded and walked out the door. Miley walked back into the kitchen and looked at Brandi. She looked a little pale and her eyes were bloodshot. She was either really tired or had been crying. Neither of those options sounded good to Miley, though.

"Did you forget something?" Brandi asked when she saw Miley enter the kitchen again.

"Can I talk to you for a second?" Miley asked. She didn't wait for a response and drug Brandi into the living room.

"What's going on?" Brandi asked, hoping that Miley wouldn't ask what Brandi was thinking she would.

"Have you told Mom yet?" Miley asked her older sister.

"No," Brandi said, looking down at the ground.

"Brandi!" Miley said. "Does Trace even know?"

"No," Brandi said again.

"You need to tell someone!" Miley exclaimed.

"I will! Just give me some time!" Brandi yelled at her sister.

"Has he called again?" Miley asked, softer this time, knowing her sister was getting upset.

"Yeah. He called last night. Miley, I don't know what to do!" Brandi said, tears forming in her eyes. Miley hugged her.

"Everything's going to be fine," Miley told her sister, reassuringly. "Do you want me to stay with you?"

"No, you go. Nick's waiting for you. I'll be here when you get home."

"Okay, but call me if you need _anything_. I mean it," Miley told her sister sternly.

"I will. Love you," Brandi said as she watched her sister walk towards the door.

"Love you, too!" Miley said as she turned around. "See ya Brais! By Noah!" Miley yelled. She heard them tell her goodbye and before Miley turned back around to the door, she looked at Brandi one more time and mouthed to her "Tell Trace."

Miley walked out and opened the back door of Kevin's car where Nick was waiting for her.

"Way to take long enough!" Kevin joked to her once she was in the car.

"I was talking to Brandi," Miley told him and gave him a knowing look.

"How is she?" Kevin asked as he put the car in reverse and backed down the driveway. He was truly concerned about his new friend.

"She's okay," Miley lied. Kevin knew and shot her a look. "Fine, she's terrible. She looks like she hasn't slept in days."

"What's wrong?" Nick asked. Kevin and Miley ignored him.

"That bad, huh?" Kevin asked.

"Yeah. He called again last night," Miley told Kevin.

"Who called?" Nick asked. Still, the other 2 ignored him.

"That son of a--" Kevin started to say but stopped himself. His grip on the steering where tightened.

"She'll be okay. I think she's finally going to tell Trace," Miley explained.

"That will be good for her," Kevin said, knowing that Brandi's brother could be there for her better than anyone.

"What's going on?" Nick asked louder. Miley and Kevin looked at each other.

"I think we could tell him?" Miley said in almost of question.

"I guess it would be okay?" Kevin said in the same form.

"Tell me what! What's going on with Brandi!" Nick asked louder still.

"Promise you won't tell anyone. I mean it!" Miley said and stuck out her pinky finger. He latched his pinky onto hers.

"Pinky promise," he said and leaned down and kissed her hand as she did the same to seal the deal.

"Brandi's dad has been calling her," Miley told him.

"Why would your dad calling her upset her?" Nick asked, confused.

"_My_ dad isn't _her_ dad. My mom had Trace and Brandi with another guy, and then met my dad," Miley explained to Nick.

"Billy Ray adopted Trace and Brandi shortly after him and Tish got married. Tish's ex wasn't in the picture at all and Miley's dad stepped up as dad for the other two," Kevin told his younger brother.

"That's why Brandi and Trace call my dad, 'Dad'," Miley said.

"Why is he calling her?" Nick asked.

"It's complicated," Kevin said and looked at Miley.

"When my mom and dad got married, David, their dad, got really mad at my mom. She was the one that left him, but _he_ was the one that stayed away from his kids. David threatened my dad a few times, but it went away after time," Miley explained.

"So what does he want now?" Nick asked, looking at his brother and then at Miley.

"He pretty much just wants to upset her for taking my dad's last name. He knows that she's emotional and somehow he got her phone number. He wants her to come live with him. She really did love her dad when she was little and that's what makes this so hard for her. She feels like she should have gotten to know him," Miley said.

"She needs to tell your parents," Nick said to Miley.

"Duh!" Kevin and Miley both said.

"She's just scared to. She doesn't like bringing him up to Dad because she feels like he gets upset. He doesn't get upset with her at all, but instead with David and how he treated my mom and her kids," Miley told Nick.

"Wow. That's crazy," Nick said, not really knowing what to say.

"Tell me about it," Kevin said.

"I'm glad she had someone to talk to about it, though. Thank you, Kevin," Miley said, placing a hand on his shoulder from the backseat.

"Anytime, Miley," Kevin replied. After about half an hour of small talk after all that, they arrived at the beach.

"Thanks for the ride, Kev," Nick said as he pulled out a blanket from the backseat that Kevin always kept in there since they had moved to California for such occasions as this. Miley thanked him as well. The two put their sunglasses on and adjusted their hats.

"No problem. Call me when you're ready to come home," Kevin said as he put the car into gear. They watched him drive off and they walked down the wooden boardwalk and down the stairs to the beach.

It was cool outside still, since it was February. It was about 60 degrees, but it wasn't windy, so it was good. The beach was pretty empty though, thankfully. They picked an area where no one really was, but that was somewhat close to the water and Miley helped Nick lay out the blanket.

Nick sat down and spread his legs and patted the blanket in the now empty spot, wanting her to sit with him. She sat down where he had motioned to and leaned back against him. He put his arms around her, right under her arms and held onto her. She put her hands on top of his and they just sat there for awhile.

"I love California," Nick said. They were both silent for a moment longer.

"I love it here, too," Miley finally said. "But I miss Tennessee sometimes."

"Really?" Nick asked.

"Of course! Don't get me wrong, I love it here. I'm doing what I love and having so much fun. But Tennessee is where my heart it," Miley told him.

"I know what you mean. Jersey is really where I belong," Nick said, understanding her completely. "What's Tennessee like?"

"It's amazing. There's so much space and the people there are always nice. We have a farm there, you know," Miley said.

"Yeah, you told me that once," Nick said.

"Oh, well, I absolutely love it there. We have dirt bikes and four wheelers. And my Mamaw keeps my horses for me," Miley explained, closing her eyes and picturing it. After a moment, she spoke again. "I wish I could spend more time there. But I will someday."

"What do you mean?" Nick asked her.

"When I'm older, I'll have a house here in LA, of course, but I want one in Tennessee, too. Next to my house there now. We own a lot of land and my dad's already told us which lots each of us kids gets if we want it," Miley laughed at the thought of all of them being older and living in Tennessee so close to each other.

"That sounds fun," Nick said, picking up on what she was laughing at.

"It would be. I've always wanted the perfect little house. You know, white picket fence, big yard, a golden retriever, and of course roses that I would tend to everyday," Miley sighed at the thought. "I'd be too busy for all that, though."

"Who knows," Nick said and pulled her up closer to him.

"You think my career's going to go under?" Miley asked, jokingly of course.

"Oh yeah, I'm sure you're going to tank really soon!" Nick laughed at her. "I just meant, maybe by then you won't be _as_ busy."

"I sure hope I'm not this busy years from now. I want a family and stuff," she said, snuggling into him.

"Me too. Seems so far off, though doesn't it?" he asked her, looking out into the ocean.

"It sure does, Nick," Miley replied and leaned even more into Nick and closed her eyes and just felt his warmth. She felt him kiss the top of her head and she couldn't help but think that one day, her and Nick would be living in that house in Tennessee, with that golden retriever, the white picket fence, and a few babies of course.

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Wow! I was not planning on this chapter being so long! I wanted to add more to it, but I figured I'd save that for the next chapter. Hope you guys liked it! And I have no idea what Brandi's dad's name is, but I needed some Brandi drama.


	16. Chapter 16

Don't forget to read my comments at the bottom, please!

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February 7, 2007

"Oh my gosh! That's so cute!" Miley raved to her friend who was trying on a purple top with gold swirls on it.

"Really? You like it?" her friend asked, a little unsure.

"You definitely need to buy it!" Miley said.

"It's totally you, V," said Miley's other friend.

"Awesome! Ash, can I borrow your gold trimmed jeans to go with this?" Vanessa asked.

"Of course!" Ashley said in response.

The three girls were out shopping on Rodeo today. Even though Miley was only 14, she had become very good friends with other Disney channel stars like Vanessa Hudgens and Ashley Tisdale. They didn't mind hanging out with her even though she was a lot younger (Vanessa at 19 and Ashley at 21) because Miley didn't always act like she was 14.

Vanessa bought the shirt and Miley picked out a new pair of shoes, as did Ashley. They paid and walked towards the doors.

"Shades, girls," Ashley said and the three of them pulled down their sunglasses. Of course, it didn't help much considering whom else would be in a trio of a tall blonde, a short brunette and one with big puffy lips? They reached the next store in a matter of minutes, only stopping for a few autographs and the paparazzi stopped outside the store. Luckily for the girls, their followers weren't allowed into any of them.

"Gosh, they never stop, do they?" Miley asked, already knowing the answer.

"Of course not. Where are we?" Ashley said and looked around. They didn't even realize what store they had entered until they were actually there.

"Alligators. We're at Lacoste," Vanessa replied as she started for the sunglasses. "I'll be over here!" she told her two friends and Miley and Ashley went to look at their jeans.

Vanessa noticed a few guys looking at the sunglasses as well. They seemed to be having a great time trying them on and she didn't want to interrupt them, so she quietly browsed, until they noticed her, of course.

"Vanessa?" one of them asked. Vanessa closed her eyes for a moment and got ready to face another fan. She appreciated it, but she still got annoyed with it just like anyone else would every once in awhile.

"Hey!" Vanessa said, putting on her fake smile and turning around. However, the fake smile faded and was replaced with a real one, and a look of surprise. "Oh my gosh! Hey!" she said, truly meaning it this time.

"Funny seein' you here, partna'," another one said in his best southern accent, which wasn't a very good one. He was always the funny one.

"Come on, Joe. I'm not a country girl, you know," Vanessa said and laughed at him. "What are you guys doing here?"

"Same thing you are," Kevin replied.

"Shopping," Kevin and Vanessa said at the same time.

"So how are you guys? I haven't seen you since, well, it's been awhile. I guess since the Christmas party in New York, huh?" Vanessa asked them.

"Yeah, I think so. So do you _always_ shop by yourself?" Joe asked her, raising an eyebrow. She did the same back to him.

"No!" she said in a long drawn out voice. "I'm here with Ash and Miley."

"Miley?" Nick said and looked around excitedly. They all just laughed at him. He blushed.

"What was that about?" Vanessa asked, even though she knew that Nick liked Miley.

"Oh, uhh, nothing, I just, uhh, haven't seen her in awhile," Nick said, still looking over the tops of racks for her.

"You saw her yesterday!" Joe said. Nick shot him a glare.

"I just didn't know that she was going out today," Nick said.

"You keep tabs on her now?" Kevin asked. Nick shot him one as well.

"I just didn't know!" Nick said, getting a little angry with his brothers. He looked at Vanessa. "Where is she?"

"Her and Ashley are over by the jeans I think," Vanessa said as she watched Nick quickly move across the store. "He's got it bad, huh?" she said and looked at his older brothers.

"You bet," Kevin said. "So how are things with you? New movie I hear?"

"Oh yeah. It'll be fun. We start rehearsing next month and we film in April," Vanessa explained to them.

On the other side of the store, Ashley and Miley were checking out the jeans. Miley was holding up a pair and asking Ashley what she thought of them.

"Those are cute. I like the pockets," Ashley said and just happened to look over Miley's shoulder. "Miley!" Ashley called out as she saw Nick. Nick quickly put a finger to his lips to tell her to be quiet, but it was too late. As Miley started to turn around, Nick dodged behind a clothing rack.

"What?" Miley asked, trying to figure out what Ashley was yelling about.

"Oh, I thought I saw a, uhh, a spider," Ashley said as she smiled at Nick who popped up over the rack next to them.

"Umm, okay?" Miley said and went back to finding her size in the jeans she liked.

Nick quietly snuck over to the two girls. Ashley was smiling like crazy idiot.

"What is your deal?" Miley asked her.

"Nothing!" Ashley said a little too quickly. Miley was starting to get a little suspicious as she narrowed her eyes at her friend who wouldn't make eye contact with her.

"Boo!" Nick said and grabbed Miley's sides. You've never heard a higher pitched scream in your life than the one that Miley's let out. She dropped the pants she was holding and her purse as well. She knew it was Nick's voice though and turned around to look at him.

"What the crap was that?" Miley exclaimed and hit Nick on the arm. She saw Kevin, Joe, and Vanessa walking over to where they were, probably from Miley's scream.

"I just wanted to come say hi," Nick pouted to her.

"Then what's with the 'Boo!'?" she asked him. She was trying really hard to look mad, but a smile was starting to come through.

"Oh stop acting mad," he said and grabbed her in a hug. She started giggling and Vanessa and Ashley started laughing as well. Joe and Kevin were making gagging noises.

"You two are gross!" Joe said. Ashley playfully hit him on the arm. "What's with the abuse of the JoBros today guys? Jeeze!" he said as he rubbed his arm. Ashley! Miley turned around to look at her friend.

"You knew the whole time! That's what you were freaking out about!" Miley said and pointed a finger at her friend. "You know, for being an actress, you sure can't lie very well!"

"Not to my friends!" Ashley defended.

"Whatever," Miley said and turned back to Nick who lightly touched her hand, but didn't hold it. It was the small things that made their relationship so amazing. "What are you guys doing here?"

"We were looking for some new sunglasses," Joe interrupted and they all just looked at him.

"Yeah, we're looking for new sunglasses," Nick repeated. "I didn't know you were going out today."

"I wasn't going to, but V called me and wanted me to come shopping with them, and I never turn down an opportunity to shop!" Miley exclaimed and he laughed at her. The rest of them were already off on their own conversation.

"What are you doing later tonight?" Nick asked her, hoping she didn't have plans yet.

"I'm sleeping over at Ashley's. It's been awhile and we need some girl time," Miley told her boyfriend. Her secret boyfriend.

"Oh, well have fun," Nick said, slightly disappointed that she had plans. She saw it in his eyes.

"Did you have plans for us, baby?" Miley asked, touching his arm, trying not to make it so obvious that they were together, but also trying to let him know she cared.

"Not really. I just thought we could hang out. It's really fine though. I've been needing to do some stuff anyway. I need to write some new stuff down that I've been thinking about lately."

"Oh yeah?" Miley asked as she swayed back and forth a little. "About me?"

"Maybe," he said and winked at her. She could have died right there. That smile, that hair, that boy!

"We should probably get back to the group. They're going to start asking," Miley said quietly to Nick.

"Well two of them are already asking me!" Nick said and motioned to his brothers.

"I'm sure I'll get a 'talking to' tonight!" Miley said, referring to Ashley and Vanessa.

"Well you have fun with _that_!" Nick said. He looked at her intently and then looked at her lips. He knew that he couldn't kiss her here, but he just kept looking at her. "That was nice," he finally said.

"What was?" Miley said, looking at him with a weird look.

"The kiss," Nick whispered to her. She looked at him funny.

"What kiss?" she asked, still confused.

"The kiss that I just gave you in my mind," Nick replied, as if it was totally normal.

"That was either the creepiest," she paused, "or the sweetest thing a guy has ever said to me." (A/N: brownie points to anyone who knows where that line came from!)

"How about we go with sweetest?" Nick said, knowing that Miley was joking about the creepy thing.

"I think that would be fine," Miley said as the laughed and rejoined the group.

"Hey, Nick, if you weren't getting anything here, I think we're going to head over to Dolce. That cool?" Kevin asked his younger brother.

"Yeah, that's fine," he said. Nick and his brothers said goodbye to the girls and left the store. Ashley and Vanessa just stood there looking at Miley.

"What?" she finally asked them.

"What do you mean 'what'?" Ashley asked her and crossed her arms. "Is there something you're not telling us?"

"No," Miley said and avoided her friends' gazes coming her way.

"There is _so_ something going on with them!" Vanessa said, mostly to Ashley, but so that Miley could hear. Miley just smiled. Both girls saw and laughed at her.

"You are too much girl!" Ashley said.

"Come on guys, we'll talk about this later!" Miley said in somewhat of a hushed tone and motioned over to a worker who was a little too close for comfort to the girls. They understood and let the topic drop. They did however continue shopping and Miley ended up buying 2 pairs of skinny jeans that she loved to wear tucked into her boots and a headband.

They shopped for another 3 hours and they were exhausted. They ate at Cate's, a small café just off of Rodeo on Beverly. Then they headed back to Ashley's house. Ashley lived in a large 3 bedroom, 2-story townhouse with her sister in Burbank, but her sister happened to be out of town.

They watched _The Princess Diaries_, a favorite of all of theirs and _The Amityville Horror_ after that. Needless to say they were all pretty scared after that and decided to go up to Ashley's room and hang out. They changed into their PJs and jumped onto Ashley's bed. Ashley was at the head of the bed, sitting Indian-style with her legs under the covers. Miley was lying on her stomach in the middle and Vanessa was at the foot of the bed, laying on her side with her head propped up on her arm looking at the other two girls.

"So," Ashley said, directly looking at Miley.

"Soooo?" Miley responded, not sure what they were about to attack her with. Well, she had a pretty good idea.

"Sooo, what's the deal with you and Nick?" Vanessa asked. Miley blushed and buried her head in a pillow she had grabbed when she sat down.

"Come on, you can't avoid it forever!" Ashley told her. Miley knew she was right.

"Promise you won't tell?" Miley asked, looking at each of her friends. The both nodded. "I mean it! You really can't."

"Did you tell anyone about me and Zac?" Vanessa asked.

"No," Miley responded.

"Then I won't say anything about you and Nick!" Vanessa told her. Ashley nodded in agreement.

"Fine," Miley said and took a deep breath and let it out. "He's my boyfriend!" she squealed. Both of her friends giggled with her and Ashley threw a pillow at her head. "Hey! What was that for?" Miley asked, throwing it back at Ashley.

"For not telling us sooner! How long?" Ashley asked Miley.

"Umm, just a few weeks. But we're not telling anyone yet," Miley explained to them.

"I totally understand," Vanessa said, really understanding how hard it was to be in the media all the time, and then to have a relationship on top of all that.

The girls talked about it for a little while longer, but girls will be girls and they of course started talking about all the other boys they thought were cute!

"I'm tired," Vanessa yawned and stretched her arms up above her head. Miley realized how tired she was as well.

"My sister's not in town. One of you can stay in her room and the other in the guest room if you want," Ashley told the girls. Vanessa and Miley looked at each other.

"Nah, I think we'll stay in the guest room," Miley responded. Her and Vanessa got off the bed and hugged Ashley goodnight. They walked across the hall and into the guest room that was done in light purple and green shades.

"You know, you'd think that this was a baby nursery if there was a crib in here instead of a big bed," Vanessa joked with Miley as they each climbed into one side of the bed.

"I know. It's cute and all, but a little too much for me," Miley said as she clapped her hands and the lights went off. That was one thing they _did_ like about the room. They didn't have to get up to turn the light off. They were silent for a few moments and then Vanessa spoke up.

"You and Nick will be fine," Vanessa told Miley. Miley just sighed.

"I just don't know. I mean, I understand why we can't tell people, but it's so hard when we are out together and we can't just _be_ together."

"Hun, if anyone understands you, it's me."

"I know. You and Zac have been together forever it seems! I can't imagine being together that long and _still_ having to keep it a secret! At least people aren't talking about Nick and me yet!" Miley said, truly thankful that people weren't speculating that yet.

"You are pretty lucky with that. You know, Gary sat down with Zac and me both and told us we couldn't tell anybody," Vanessa said. Eddie, the Vice President of Disney had people who worked directly under him, and one of them was Gary, who was in charge of all the Disney channel things.

"Really? He said that to you?" Miley asked, shocked.

"Yup. He didn't even know that Zac and I _were _together, but he said _if _we were going to get together, to not say _a word_!" Vanessa said, still upset about it.

"I'm so sorry, V! I can't believe that!" Miley said, getting a little upset herself.

"They said it was because it would ruin the movie, and that Zac's status would go down on the hotness scale if he wasn't single anymore or some crap like that. How ridiculous is that?!"

"Pretty ridiculous. Maybe Nick and I can just keep it under wraps, even from Disney," Miley said, thinking about how they would do that.

"Well good luck. From what I hear, though, they give a lot of us the 'talk'. They told Hilary and Adam not to get together when they were doing the show. And Shia and Margo were told not to have anything to do with one another off the set, but they did anyway and got in a lot of trouble," Vanessa explained to Miley. Miley's eyes got wide and she tensed up. Vanessa could feel her nervousness. "Miley, just keep it as quiet as possible."

"I guess all we can do is try, right?" Miley said, unsure.

"Really that's all you can do. That's what we've been doing," Vanessa sighed at the thought of her and her boyfriend not even being able to go out together to get dinner or anything!

"Don't you want to do something, though? Like, just come out with it?" Miley asked her. Vanessa smiled.

"Actually, next month I'm shooting for my new video, 'Say OK' and Zac's going to play my romantic interest!" V said, obviously very excited.

"That's so cool. Do you think people will get it, though?" Miley asked.

"I don't really care. I get to do something with my boyfriend for once! Like go to the beach and have fun. So what if there's 10 cameras around us? I get to go out with him!" she squealed. The two girls were really excited now.

"You are too cute when you talk about him!" Miley said.

"He's cute!" Vanessa laughed.

"No kidding!" Miley said. They were both quiet for a moment. Vanessa rolled over onto her side, her back facing Miley.

"Goodnight, Miles," Vanessa said.

"Night, V," Miley responded and drifted off to sleep.

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"Dude! Be quiet!" Nick banged on the wall that adjoined his and Kevin's rooms.

"How about you go somewhere else!" Kevin shouted back and hit the wall. Kevin had his music turned up pretty loud, although at 11 at night, Nick wasn't sure why. Nick was up, and there was no sleep in sight for him, but he was trying to think clearly, which wasn't happening with the noise coming from the next room. Just in the nick of time (no pun intended) though, Denise came up the stairs and told Kevin that people were trying to sleep and that he needed to turn it down.

Nick finally was able to write down the things he had been thinking about for the last few days. When he finally thought he had it all organized, he started to play the rhythm he had come up with for it.

"Everyone knows it's meant to be, falling in love, just you and me.'Til the end of time, 'til I'm on her mind, it'll happen. I've been making lots of plans, like a picket fence and a rose garden; I'll just keep on dreaming, but it's cool cause we're just friends," Nick sang softly. He was pretty proud of himself. This song really just came to him. Everything fit and nothing was forced. He just needed to come up with a last verse and it'd be done. However, he was tired and wanted to get some sleep. He'd work on it another time.

Nick put his guitar on its stand in his room and put his notebook under his bed as he climbed into it. Before he closed his eyes, he looked over to his night stand at a picture of him and Miley that she had taken one day at his house. She was smiling widely and had her arms around his neck. Their cheeks were touching and he had a dreamy look on his face; understandably of course.

"Do I really love her?" Nick asked himself, a little unsure. He wasn't even sure what love really was; he'd never been in love before, but Miley wasn't like anyone before. He felt amazing when he was with her no matter what they were doing. He smiled every time he thought about her. She understood him better than any other girl; ever. He pondered those thoughts as he drifted off to sleep.

---------

February 9, 2007

Nick was over at Miley's again. They were in her living room and playing around with song ideas, mostly just making up funny lyrics for one another.

"Purple toes, your cute nose, everything about you drives me close, to the edge," Nick sang to her. They both laughed.

"Purple toes?" Miley asked him between laughs.

"Your nail polish?" Nick said as if it was completely obvious.

"Hey, okay, be serious for a minute here," Miley said. Nick looked up at her and wondered what was going on. "I've kind of been working on this song, but I'd really like your help with it."

"Give me what you've got so far," Nick said as he prepared to listen.

"Okay, but I'm warning you, it's about you," Miley said and smiled at him. He raised an eyebrow at her and chuckled softly.

"I think I can handle it," Nick said.

"Okay," Miley said and started to sing. "Gonna stay in bed today, cause I can't stand the light. Don't know why I get so down," she paused, "I won't be much fun tonight, and I can't believe, you still wanna hang around, me."

Nick smiled at her and was picking up on the melody. He started in with his guitar softly, trying to harmonize it with was she was doing.

"It's not so pretty all the time; you don't mind; to you it's alright," Miley sang and looked back at Nick, waiting for his approval. He nodded and silently told her to go on. "Okay, this is the chorus," she told him and then she began to sing again. "As I am, is how you take me, never try to push or make me different; when I talk you listen to me. As I am, is how you want me, and I know I've found the piece that's missin'; I'm lookin' at him."

Nick smiled even bigger at her than before, if that was possible. She just kind of looked at him for a moment, waiting for something, until he leaned over and kissed her on the top of the head. She pouted until he kissed her lips.

"Miley, that was beautiful," he said, searching for words to explain how he felt about it. It was more than beautiful to him, so much more, but what it was, there were no words for.

"Thanks," she said, a little boastfully that she had impressed her boyfriend so much. "Help me write the second verse?" she asked, an excited look in her eye. He nodded and they both started playing again.

"I'm not the guy you think you see, but maybe that's a lie. You almost know me better than, me, myself and I. Don't know a lot of things, but I know what I got," he winked at her. "It's not so perfect everyday, I don't have to try, 'cause it all falls into place," Nick sang. Miley's eyes lit up with her brilliant idea.

"We could do a duet!" she exclaimed and practically choked Nick to deal with her death grip of a hug. "You are so amazing!"

"Miley, can't breathe!" Nick said, his voice a little muffled. She pulled off of him and apologized.

"But seriously, Nick. What do you think?" Miley asked, hoping he would be okay with it.

"I think it'd be a great idea!" Nick said and paused. Miley waited for the rest of his response. "I'd have to do it with Miley, though. Not Hannah."

"That's perfect! We're releasing a new Hannah CD later this year and I'm going to get some of my own songs on there!" Miley said, squealing. "Oh my gosh, Nick, I'm so excited!" She was bouncing slightly up and down on the couch.

"Let's just keep playing. Let me see your notebook, so I can sing the chorus with you," Nick said. Miley grabbed the notebook and opened it up and put it in front of Nick; she already knew the words. Nick wrote down what he had just sang and then they started the chorus again.

"As I am," they both sang.

"Is how you take me," Miley sang to Nick.

"Never try to push or make me different," he sang back to her.

"When I talk you listen to me. As I am," they sang together.

"Is how you want me," Nick sang.

"And I know," Miley sang and then Nick joined in with her, "I've found the piece that's missin'."

"I'm looking at him," Miley sang and smiled to Nick.

"I'm looking at her," he responded after her.

"AHHH!!!" Miley shrieked. "This is amazing!"

"It is pretty cool," Nick said, really excited about still being a chill guy to Miley's hyper, girlish attitude.

"It's better than cool!" she said, grabbing Nick's hands. She jumped off the couch and pulled Nick with her. She started bouncing up and down and turning in a circle. Think the scene in Titanic when they are dancing, but after about 10 red bulls. Nick didn't really want to bounce, but Miley made him.

"Hey guys-- what in tarnation?" Billy Ray asked as he entered the living room. Nick stopped suddenly, however Miley didn't and kept turning until she ran into Nick and almost knocked him over. Miley laughed, however, Nick was silent, looking at his girlfriend's father.

"Hey Daddy!" Miley said. "What's going on?"

"I should be asking you that!" Billy Ray said, but started laughing as he approached the two teens.

"We were just, uhh, Miley was, and I, we wrote," Nick stuttered. Billy Ray and Miley both chuckled at him a little as he blushed.

"I was just really excited!" Miley told him as her and Nick sat down on the couch and Billy Ray sat in the arm chair across from them.

"About what?" Billy Ray asked and raised an eyebrow.

"Oh Daddy! We wrote a song together! Like a duet!" Miley exclaimed.

"Well, let's hear it!" her father said, a little anxious himself to hear what they had come up with.

"It's not really finished yet or anything, maybe we should just," Nick started to say. Miley caught on that he was nervous about singing it in front of her dad.

"It's okay, Nick," Miley said softly. Nick nodded and swallowed the lump in his throat. As soon as Miley started playing, he joined in with her and almost forgot that her dad was even there. It was just him and Miley as far as he was concerned.

They sang the chorus with both of them the way they had a few minutes ago, and asked Billy Ray what he thought.

"I think it's great, guys. I mean that," he said. "However, as a father, I must say this," he started to say in his stern 'daddy' voice and Nick held his breath, "having a boy care that much about my daughter," he paused, "means everything to me. Miley's a great girl and she deserves the best. I think she may have just found it for the time being," Billy Ray finished. Nick let out the breath he had been holding and Miley let a huge smile creep across her face.

"Thank you, sir. It means a lot that you think so highly of me," Nick told him.

"It's Billy Ray, please, and you are a good guy, Nick. Just don't make me regret saying that," Billy Ray said and stood up to leave the room.

"Thank you, sir, uhh, Billy Ray. And I won't make you regret it," Nick said and Miley laughed, at her father being overprotective but sweet, and Nick for being nervous. After Billy Ray left the room, Nick just looked at her.

"What?" she asked, giggling.

"Do you like to watch me squirm in front of your dad?" Nick asked her.

"No," she said and laughed again, "okay, maybe," she finished. "But you're just so cute when you squirm!" she said, poking him in the side and making him laugh as well.

"Oh, so we're playing that game, huh?" Nick asked and started tickling her back.

"So not funny, Nick!" Miley said, trying to get the words out between her giggles.

"Frobro: Tickle Master!" Nick shouted as he practically attacked her. They laughed for awhile longer and he finally got off of her. "Well that was fun," he said, out of breath.

"Maybe for you!" Miley said, straightening her shirt out.

"Don't act like you didn't like being that close to me," Nick said to her in a hushed tone, close to her ear.

"Nicholas Jonas!" Miley squealed at him. "Okay, so maybe it wasn't so bad," she said, a little quieter.

"I didn't think it was bad at all," he said in her ear again.

"Oh jeeze! Stop being gross, Nick!" she told him. He pretended to look hurt and held his hand to his chest.

"Miley, that's low," Nick said, acting like he was out of breath.

"Oh quit it," Miley said playfully and put her hands around his waist. She put her head in his lap, her head facing his stomach.

"You tired?" he asked.

"Nope, just want to be close to you," she said and looked up at him. They both smiled and stayed that way for awhile, until Miley actually did fall asleep. Nick ran his fingers through her hair as she started to snore a little.

"I love you, Miley," he whispered, grateful that he finally got to say it, and thankful that she was asleep when he did. Little did he know, she could hear him.

---------

Thanks so much for the reviews guys! I love them and they really do help me write the next chapter and get motivated! This will probably be my last update for awhile, although I'll try to get the next one up as soon as possible. I'm going home for spring break and I'll be pretty busy, but I promise, I'll try my hardest to get another one up as soon as I can!

Okay, so I was reading another story on here (Contradicting Lyrics) and she asks questions at the end for her reviewers to answer. Of course, I still want you guys to review the chapter, but you can answer the question if you want, too.

Okay, so Valentine's Day was last month and my friend joked about getting JB for me. What would you do if the Jonas Brothers ended up on your doorstep for Valentine's Day? What would you want them to bring you as a gift? Where would you take them? What would you do with them (not in a dirty way!)?


	17. Chapter 17

F

February 11, 2007

"So, do you have plans for the big day?" Emily asked Miley. They were on set at Hannah Montana and Jason and Billy Ray were doing a scene, so Emily and Miley had a little downtime. They were in Miley's dressing room, hanging out and looking through some magazines.

"Not really. Nick hasn't said anything to me about it yet," Miley told her, flipping the pages of M magazine. Emily was one of the few that knew that Miley and Nick were together.

"I bet he's going to surprise you," Emily told her, who was looking at a TigerBeat.

"Do you know something?" Miley said, looking up from her magazine.

"No," Emily said honestly and looked back to her magazine, "I wish I did, though!"

"I bet," Miley said and laughed a little. "So, do you want to know something?"

"Always," Emily said looking back up at her friend.

"Nick said he loved me," Miley said and Emily's eyes got wide.

"He what?" Emily exclaimed.

"Yeah! He thought I was sleeping, but I wasn't. And he said he loved me!" said Miley who was getting more and more excited the more she talked. Emily paused before she replied.

"So, he didn't actually tell you?" she asked.

"Well, no," Miley started, "but he said he did, even if he didn't know I heard him. That's gotta count for something, right?"

"Something, sure, but Miley, he didn't really tell you."

"Fine, but at least I know he does."

"Do you love him?" Emily asked her. Miley pondered for a moment.

"I'm not sure. I've never been in love before, so I'm not really sure what it's supposed to feel like," Miley told Emily.

"What do you feel?" Emily asked.

"I feel, I feel amazing when I'm with him. I've never felt so comfortable around someone before, and felt more than just a friend feeling for. He's so great to me, and I'd do anything for him. I honestly don't know what I would do if he wasn't around," said Miley as her friend listened.

"I think that _could_ be love," Emily said slowly.

"You think?" Miley asked her, unsure.

"Yeah, I think so," Emily said and Miley seemed to be content with that answer. They both went back to their magazines.

"Oh my gosh, look at this!" Miley exclaimed as she passed her magazine over to Emily.

"What?" Emily asked as she looked at the page. "Oh."

"They don't even know!" Miley said, getting a little upset. "Why do people make things up?"

"Don't worry Miley, everything will be fine. It's just a stupid magazine," Emily told her, giving her the magazine back. Right in the middle of the page was a picture of Nick and another girl, probably a fan. They pinned her as "Nick's New Girl."

"Stupid!" Miley said loudly and threw the magazine across the room. It hit the door and a second later, they heard a knock.

"Come in!" both girls said at the same time. Cody Linley walked in. Miley was doing a scene with Jake today, apparently.

"Hey, what's up, guys?" Cody asked.

"Not much, just hanging out," Miley replied. "Come sit." Cody walked over and sat in Miley's hair and makeup chair.

"What have you been up to?" Emily asked him.

"Nothing really. Umm, Miley, could I talk to you for a minute?" Cody asked, looking right at her.

"Yeah, what's up?" Miley asked him, wondering what was on his mind. Cody shifted his gaze from Miley to Emily. Emily got the hint and took her magazine and herself out of the room.

"So, you know, Valentine's Day is coming up soon," Cody started to say. Miley knew what was coming.

"Yeah?" she asked, praying he wasn't going where she thought he was.

"And I was just wondering if you wanted to go and do something? With me, I mean? We could go out to eat or something? Or just hang out at one of our houses?" Cody asked her. Miley smiled at him.

"Cody, I'm sorry. I really just can't. I have plans already," she lied to him, although she knew she probably would.

"Oh, I didn't know that you were, you know, with anyone," he said, embarrassed now.

"We're just friends, but he asked me first," Miley told him.

"Oh, that's cool. Well, we'll hang out some other time, okay?" Cody asked.

"Yeah, we will," she said. Cody left and Emily came back in.

"What was that all about?" Emily asked her, as she sat back down.

"He asked me out for Valentine's," Miley said.

"Oh my gosh! Did you tell him you already had plans with Nick?"

"Of course not! I just said I had plans with a friend already."

"Yeah, a boyfriend!" Emily laughed at her.

"Em, come on, you can't say that!" Miley warned her.

"Fine, whatever," Emily said and put down her magazine. "Get out the basket, let's work on the blanket for awhile." Miley got their knitting basket out of the corner and they started to work on the blanket they had started to make awhile back.

"I never thought I would knit!" Miley told her after awhile.

"I never thought I'd be on the number one rated TV show, but weird things happen, Miles," Emily told her and they both laughed.

"So what are you plans for V-day?" Miley asked her friend. Emily blushed.

"Danny's taking me out to dinner," she said softly.

"That's so cool! As just friends, or a date?" Miley asked, raising an eyebrow.

"A date!" Emily exclaimed.

"EEP!" both girls squealed at the same time and laughed. Danny was a guy that Emily had been friends with for a few years now. He was a year older than her and not in the acting business. She met him surfing one day and they became pretty good friends. But lately, Emily had started crushing on him, hard, and he knew it. Thankfully, he liked her too.

"This is so exciting!" Miley told her with wide eyes.

"I know! I'm ecstatic!" Emily told her. "Too bad we can't make it a double date."

"Nick hasn't even asked me yet! Besides, we'll probably just end up over at his house or something," she said.

"What did you get him?" Emily asked her.

"Crap! I knew I was forgetting something! I don't have anything for him!"

"Chill, girl. We'll figure something out," Emily told her and looked over at Miley's end of the blanket. "Miley! Pull that whole thing out of there! Redo that row, and pay attention!" she instructed her friend.

"Fine!" Miley said and pulled out the yarn. "But if it happens again, I'm leaving it like that and we'll just have a bumpy blanket!"

February 14, 2007

"You've got to be kidding me," Joe said as he walked into Nick's room.

"What? Is it too much?" Nick asked, looking back into his room from the doorway where Joe was standing also.

"It looks like cupid threw up in your room!" Joe told him. Nick had decorated his room for Valentine's Day. Miley was coming over and he wanted their first Valentine's Day together to be very special.

Red and pink balloons were everywhere, floating up near the ceiling and ones that were just on the floor, along with strands of Christmas lights that were randomly strung along the floor. 5 vases of roses were spread throughout the room, four had 6 roses in them and the fifth had a full dozen. There was a huge stuffed dog on Nick's bed with a big red bow on it and smaller presents spread throughout the room, wrapped in red paper with white bows. The curtains were pulled shut and he had taped paper hearts- that he had cut out himself- all over them and his walls. His mom had helped him with some of it, but for the most part, all the ideas were Nick's.

"I kinda like it," Nick said, admiring his handy work.

"I think I'm going to be sick," Joe said, walking away and making gagging noises. Kevin heard him and walked over to Nick's room to see what was going on.

"Oh my God, Nick, what happened to your room?" Kevin asked him with wide eyes.

"Dude, I think it looks good. I just want her to have fun," Nick told him. Kevin smiled at his younger brother and put his arm around his shoulders.

"You've got it bad, huh?" Kevin asked.

"Come on, we're just friends that happen to be hanging out on Valentine's Day," Nick said, thinking about Miley's reaction to his room. Kevin gave him a look of _'I know better than that'_. Nick avoided the look. "Don't you have plans with Kaila?" 

"Yeah, I'm going to pick her up in just a little bit," Kevin said.

"Where are you guys going?"

"To a party her friend is having," Kevin said and Nick raised an eyebrow at him. "Don't look at me like that. It's not a _party_ party. Just some of her friends getting together with their boyfriends to eat a bunch of candy and watch sappy love movies."

"Whatever," Nick said.

"When's Miley getting here?" Kevin asked. Nick looked at his watch that she had gotten him and smiled a little to himself, just like he did every time he looked at it.

"In like half an hour! Does it look okay?" Nick asked Kevin, really needing an honest opinion.

"She's going to love it, Nicky," Kevin said and ruffled Nick's hair a little.

"I hope she does," Nick said.

"She will. Stop worrying. Come help me pick out which boots I'm going to wear," Kevin asked his brother, even though he didn't really need any help, he knew that Nick needed to get his mind off of his room for just awhile longer before he added more to it.

Nick followed Kevin and they went into his room. Kevin opened the closet and Nick looked over the 30 plus pairs of boots he had to choose from.

"Dude, seriously, you're like a girl," Nick said, looking over his shoulder at his brother.

"I like boots!" Kevin defended.

"Yeah whatever," said Nick and Kevin and him laughed. They found a pair and Kevin sat on his bed to put them on. Next door, they heard a loud thump come from Joe's room. Kevin and Nick looked at each other. "Is he okay?" Nick asked his older brother.

"He's really not. This is the first Valentine's Day he hasn't been with someone," Kevin said.

"And he was planning on being with AJ," Nick finished.

"I can't believe she broke up with him _on_ Valentine's Day!" Kevin said.

"I just don't understand why," Nick wondered.

"Who knows why she does anything she does. I think she's just stressed out from touring and everything. And since now they won't be able to tour together, it's going to be difficult. Besides, Joe can be difficult to deal with period," Kevin told him.

"I guess. But Miley and I make it work, and we're not touring together," Nick said.

"You and Miley are neighbors, and she's not on tour, either. Just you; she's back here and waiting for you. Besides, you and Miley are different," Kevin said. Nick smiled slightly.

"Yeah, we are different, huh?" Nick said sheepishly. "Oh no! What time is it?"

"She'll be here in like fifteen minutes, Nick," Kevin told him, looking at his own watch.

"I have to go talk to Joe before she gets here. He's got to help me with something," Nick said, approaching Kevin's door. "Have fun tonight," he said and wiggled his eyebrows at his brother.

"Quit it, Nick! You're sick!" Kevin said and blushed a little as he waved his brother out of his room.

Nick walked over to Joe's door and knocked loudly, considering that his music was up pretty loud.

"What?" Joe yelled.

"Can I come in?" Nick slightly yelled back.

"No," Joe said and then opened the door. Nick looked at him funny as Joe opened the door wider so Nick could enter. "What do you want?"

"Remember? Miley's coming over and I was thinking we could still do the thing and--" Nick started to say.

"Sorry, I just can't do it, Nick. You'll have to do it on your own," Joe said sadly.

"Joe, come on, do it for Miley," Nick said. Joe looked at him like he was crazy.

"Look, Miley is cool and all, but I'm not in love with her like you are, little man," Joe told him.

"Do it for me, Joe," Nick paused. "I'd do it for you." Joe contemplated for a moment and knew Nick was right.

"Fine, but then I get to sulk around in my room for the _rest_ of the night," Joe told him. Nick agreed and they went downstairs to wait for Miley.

"Oh my Jonas, Brandi! What am I going to wear?" Miley shrieked as she realized what time it was and needed to pick out her outfit. Her and her sister had spent so much time on their hair and makeup, and having fun, that they didn't realize it was almost time for Miley to leave, and for Brandi's date to pick her up.

"Calm down, we'll find something, I'm sure!" Brandi said, looking at her little sister nervously. 

"Great!" Miley said and sighed loudly. "I'm going to look like an idiot if I'm late!"

"No you won't. Nick will just assume that you want to look extra cute for him," Brandi explained to her as she ruffled through the clothes in Miley's closet. "What about this?" she asked and held up a short pink dress. "With jeans underneath and your white boots?"

"No, too cutsie. I need something more sophisticated," Miley told Brandi as she stuck her neck out and pretended to be very regal, until she burst out laughing. "Come on though, I'm serious, we need to find something, NOW!"

They both rummaged through the mess of clothes that was Miley's closet and Miley found a dark navy blue babydoll tee and decided that she would wear that. Brandi grabbed her a lilac colored short sleeved fitted top to go underneath of it and Miley put them on. She pulled on her new True Religion jeans and her navy blue flats. A light purple cloth headband was put in her hair and she was ready to go!

"Thanks so much for your help!" Miley squealed as she hugged Brandi.

"No problem. Now come on, help me find something now!" Brandi said and pulled Miley into her room down the hall. They found Brandi an outfit quicker than they had found Miley's, probably because you could actually walk into the closet and move around without tripping over shoes and more clothes.

The doorbell rang and Brandi left with her date, after a quick look-over of her date by Billy Ray, Trace, and Braison. Then, Trace took Miley up to Nick's. She was 10 minutes late, but she knew he wouldn't mind. She rang the doorbell and only waited a few seconds until the door opened.

"Happy Valentine's Day, beautiful!" Nick said somewhat quietly, but not without enthusiasm. He grabbed her in a hug, although it was awkward with the big gift bag she was holding.

"Happy Valentine's Day to you as well, handsome!" she said, touching the navy blue striped fabric of his polo. They walked into the house and Joe was the first to comment.

"What is this, the twin convention?" Joe asked as the two came into the living room. It was true, they were about the same height, Miley had done her hair curly, so that was the same, and they both had on navy blue shirts with lighter colored jeans. They chuckled at themselves.

"Great minds think alike," Nick quoted and motioned for Miley to sit in the recliner that faced the couch.

"What's going on?" Miley asked as she sat down and Nick went to sit by Joe. They pulled their guitars out from behind the couch and got comfortable.

"We wrote this a couple of years ago," Nick started to explain as he and Joe started playing the melody. "It was the first song we did as brothers, and got us started, really. Kevin had to leave earlier, but he wanted to be here for this, so just pretend that he is," he said, smiling at Miley, who smiled back.

"You're lucky I'm here," Joe mumbled and Nick stopped playing for a second and nudged Joe.

"So happy Valentine's day, Miley; from the Jonas boys," Nick said as he and Joe got louder on their guitars and Joe started the first verse.

"They come and go, but they don't know, that you are my," Joe sang.

"Beautiful," Nick and Joe sang together.

"I try to come, closer with you, but they all say we won't make it through," Joe sang. Miley was smiling widely now and enjoying every second of the boys singing to her.

"But I'll be there forever," they sang together.

"You will see that it's better," sang Nick as he looked right at Miley. "All our hopes and our dreams."

"Will come true," sang the brothers.

"I will not disappoint you," Nick sang to her. "I will be right here for you."

"Til the end, the end of time," the two of them sang, "please be mine."

They sang the rest of the song and Miley applauded at the end, along with Mrs. Jonas who happened to be in the kitchen watching the whole time. Nick turned around and blushed a little. Joe applauded himself as well and Denise laughed at him and walked into her bedroom.

"Thank you, guys!" Miley said as she stood up. "Joe, that was great!" she said and hugged him.

"You're welcome," he said, without much emotion. "Have a great night!" he said, his words dripping with sarcasm. "I'll be in my room." They watched Joe climb the stairs slowly and sulk as he got to his door. He walked in and closed it, and the music blared as soon as the door was shut.

"What's wrong with him?" Miley asked Nick.

"AJ broke up with him today," Nick explained. "They've had some rough patches lately, breaking up and getting back together, but Joe thinks she's serious this time."

"Poor Joe!" Miley said, looking up at his door and then back down at Nick. He had his bottom lip stuck out at her. "What?" she asked, giggling a little.

"Poor Joe? Poor Nicky…he didn't even get a thank you for the song!" Nick pouted playfully.

"I'm so sorry!" Miley exaggerated as she put her arms around his neck. "Thank you," she said and looked into his eyes. She quickly pecked his lip that was sticking out and pulled away quickly, before they got caught. They sat down and talked for a few minutes before Denise and Kevin Sr. came out of their room.

"Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Jonas!" Miley said, waving at them.

"Please, it's Kevin and Denise, Miley!" Denise told her as she grabbed her purse from the kitchen. "Nick, honey, we'll be back around 11," she said and kissed the top of his fluffy head.

"Frankie is at the babysitters house and Joe's in his room," Kevin Sr. informed them. "Check on him every now and then? Or at least before you go to bed?"

"No problem," Nick said, desperately wanting his parents to leave.

"And Nick?" Denise said as she turned around to look at her son as Kevin took the keys and went out to start the car. "Miley is allowed in your room, but you know the rules," she said and raised an eyebrow at him. He blushed slightly again.

"Yes, Mom, I know," Nick said. "Have a good time tonight!"

"We will! Happy Valentine's day, guys!" Denise said and waved at them as she walked out the door.

"What was that about?" Miley asked as she crossed her arms and looked at him. He rubbed the back of his neck as he came a little closer to her and grabbed her hand.

"I have a surprise for you," he told her, "in my room." Miley giggled and followed him up the stairs and down the hall to Nick's room. The door was shut and Nick paused as he put his hand on the doorknob.

"What?" she questioned him after a moment of stillness.

"I just, I want you to, you know, like it," Nick said looking at her with a sheepish smile.

"I'm going to love it," Miley told him and smiled back. She put her other hand over his that was on the doorknob and "helped" him turn it. He pushed the door open and Miley waited for him to turn on the lights, but he didn't. "Uhh, lights maybe?" she asked him.

"Hang on," he said and released her hand and bent down. He grabbed a cord and plugged it into an outlet and the small lights on the floor came on.

"Oh my goodness," Miley gasped as she saw Nick's room. She put her hands over her mouth and stared at it all for a few moments. Nick apprehensively took her hand again, unsure if she liked it, or was in shock and horrified. As his fingers laced with hers, she looked over to him and he looked at her as if he needed approval, which in part he did. "I love it," she said and wrapped him in a hug.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Miley," he whispered in her ear as he pulled her closer and held onto her for dear life. "Is it too much?" he asked and pulled away to look at her.

"Not at all," she said softly and kissed him. "Thank, you, so, much" she said in between kisses.

"Mmm," he exaggerated as she pulled away from him. "You, are, very, very, very, very," he said in between kisses, until Miley pushed him away, "welcome," he laughed.

"Nicholas, you know what your mom said about the rules," Miley said as walked into his room a little bit more. She made her way to the bed and the big dog that sat on the bed. She eyed it and looked back at him before sitting down on the edge. "She'd be mad if we broke the rules. I don't want her to not trust us."

Miley's plea was too late though, as Nick was already halfway across the room when she started talking and by the time she was finished he was standing up in front of her and began to lower himself over her. She leaned back with him and before either one of them knew it, he was on top of her.

"But she's not here," Nick whispered in her ear. She got chills and tried to playfully push him off, but didn't succeed, although she hadn't really wanted to. He leaned down and kissed the top of her head and then her nose and her cheek, and finally her lips. They kissed for awhile, before they both knew they had to stop.

"Nick," Miley breathed and Nick raised himself up to look at her.

"I know," he whispered back and caught his breath.

"We should stop," she whispered, not wanting to, but knowing they had to.

"I know," he repeated and rolled off of her. He quickly realized the situation he was in and sat up and covered himself with Miley's stuffed dog.

"So what'd you get me?" she said a few moments later as she halfway bounced up and down on the bed.

"Oh, was I supposed to get you something?" he asked playfully.

"Well, duh! Is that for me?" and she pointed to the dog sitting on his lap with a red bow on it.

"Maybe," Nick said, trying not to show that he was embarrassed.

"Let me have it!" she said and grabbed for it.

"Umm, maybe you should wait a minute," he said and looked down at the dog.

"Why?" Miley asked and grabbed for it again.

"Miley, just, you should just, you know, wait," Nick said sternly. Miley looked at him for a minute and then her eyes got wide and her mouth made a little 'O' shape.

"Oh my goodness!" she squealed and pointed to the dog. Nick turned about 40 shades of red in a 10 second period. Miley giggled until she realized Nick was really upset. "Babe, don't be like that, it's okay."

"But I didn't mean it, and it just happened and I," Nick started to say before Miley interrupted him.

"Nick stop, it's totally fine! I understand. And if I had stuff that did that, you'd be able to see mine too," Miley said and giggled a little again. Nick smiled slightly and his red faced turned to a pinkish shade.

"Really?" he asked.

"Really," she confirmed.

"Well, I mean, I am pretty hot, you know," Nick said and took his hands and ran them down his chest. Miley grabbed a pillow and threw it at him. "Hey!" he yelled as he tried to block it.

"And what am I? Chopped liver?" she asked him.

"Not a chance, Miles. Why do you think I got into this situation? You're hot as hell!" Nick said. Miley looked at him for a moment longer as she waited for him to go on and he laughed a little at her impatience as she crossed her arms. "You're amazing and the most beautiful girl I've ever seen in my life," he said, hoping that would be enough. Apparently, it wasn't. "You light up my life?" he said, in more of a question.

"Nick!" Miley whined to him and got off the bed. Nick looked a little stunned, not sure what he had said that had made her so upset.

"What?" Nick asked, pulling the dog off of him now that his 'situation' was fixed, and getting off the bed. "Miley, what did I say?"

"It's what you didn't say," she said quietly and walked over to his dresser to look at a picture of the two of them from a few weeks ago. He put his arms around her from behind and placed his head on her shoulder. She looked up and saw the two of them in the mirror. They were perfect together, no doubt about that.

"What do you want me to say?" he asked her and kissed her cheek before placing his head back on her shoulder.

"Everything," she shrugged as though it was no big deal and then smiled at him.

"Everything, huh?" he asked and she nodded eagerly. "Well, I think your voice is amazing and I get chills every time I hear you sing. You're cute as Hannah, but Miley is better. I love watching you walk into a room, because you do it with so much grace and you literally light up a room. Miley, when you pop your fingers, it annoys the crap out of me, but I love it anyway. I love that you always smell like your melon shampoo. The way your hair curls around my fingers drives me crazy. I love everything about you, Miley," Nick said and Miley stared at him, waiting for him to finish.

"Is that all?" she said after a moment of silence.

"I guess," Nick said, unsure of what she wanted.

"There's _nothing_ else you'd want to add to that?" she questioned as she turned around to face him. She put her arms around his middle back and his hands were placed on her hips.

"What would you like me to say?" Nick asked innocently. He was finally catching onto what she was trying to get out of him.

"Oh I dunno, Nick, but you can't just leave it at that," Miley said, getting a little annoyed. Nick laughed at her softly and she gave him a look. He stopped laughing.

"I'll save it for later," he said and turned away from her. She huffed and crossed her arms over her chest and stomped her foot.

"NICK!" she yelled at him.

"What?" he asked and walked over to his nightstand. "Here, come open this," he said and placed a gift box in her hand.

"Fine," she said and opened it. She pulled out a piece of plastic in 2 shades of blue. "A new phone cover! Thank you!" she said and gave him a quick hug before looking for her phone. "Oh, no! I left my phone downstairs! And your present is down there too! I'll be right back."

She pecked him on the cheek and set the phone cover down on his bed. He sat down next to it and waited for her to come back up. She ran down the stairs and picked up her purse and her gift bag for Nick and ran back up the stairs. When she entered his room, she was out of breath. He laughed at her.

"Okay! Open it!" she squealed and practically threw the bag at him.

"You're gonna poke an eye out, Miley, calm down!" Nick said and started to remove the tissue paper at the top of the bag. He got to the first 'layer' and took out two small boxes that were wrapped separately.

"Open those later," Miley told him and he did as he was told. He approached the next items and got quite excited.

"Oh my gosh, Miley, thank you!" he said as he pulled out a black Smet shirt. It was embellished with a golden crown and gray shaded hands on the shoulders. "This is awesome!"

"I thought you'd like it," she said as he held up the shirt to his body, pretending to model it. "Keep going, you have more!" she said as he pulled another Smet shirt out of the bag. This one was white with red writing and crisscrossed chains all over it.

"Miley, this is too much," he told her, knowing how much these shirts cost her.

"No it's not. I love you in Smet and I know how much you love it, too," she said. He smiled at her and leaned over to give her a quick kiss.

"Well thank you. Now you have to open another one of yours," Nick said. He leaned over and grabbed another gift for her. "Here, open this one."

Miley torn the paper off of the gift and smiled when she saw what was inside.

"Your favorite movie?" Miley asked him as she held up _Finding Neverland_.

"I love it, and I know that you like it, too. I wanted share something of mine with you," Nick explained to her. "And I thought we could watch it tonight."

"Of course!" Miley told him and set the gift down. "Your turn again!"

"Okay," he said as he reached back into the huge bag. He pulled out a shoe box, unwrapped. He looked at her questioningly and she smiled at him. "You couldn't find anything better than a shoebox?" he asked and laughed. She laughed too when he opened the box and was surprised to find his favorite green converse. "Miley! What?"

"The pair you wear all the time were getting dirty. And I know how you hate to clean your shoes, so I just bought you some new ones!"she told him.

"This is awesome, Miles, thank you so much!" he said as he leaned over to kiss her again. It lasted a little longer than the last, but neither one of them minded. "Your turn for a gift now," he said and she went to go grab a wrapped medium sized box on the floor next to the bed. "Nope," Nick told her as he gently pushed her hand back and made her look at him. He got up and picked up his guitar. This was always her favorite part of getting gifts from Nick. He always had a song.

"So what's this one called?" she asked as he tuned a little bit. He looked up at her.

"Why don't you listen and help me out with it?" Nick asked her and she nodded her head as he began to play for her.

"It's catchy," Miley said as she got into the rhythm and Nick smiled at her before he started to sing.

"Take my hand tonight, we can run so far; we can change the world to anything we want. We can talk for hours just staring at the stars, they shine down to show us," Nick sang to Miley. "You know when the sun forgets to shine, I'll be there to hold you through the night, and we'll be running so fast we can fly tonight. And even when we're miles and miles apart, you're still holding all of my heart; I promise it will never be dark, I know, we're inseparable," he sang. He continued to play the melody as he looked to Miley for approval.

"Keep going, babe," she said softly and smiled at him.

"We could run forever, if you wanted to, and I would not get tired, because I'd be with you. I keep singing this song, until the very end, we'd have done all these things. You know when the sun," he sang and looked at Miley.

"Forgets to shine, I'll be there to hold you through the night" she sang with him.

"And we'll be running so fast we can fly tonight. And even when we're miles and miles apart," Nick sang.

"You're still holding all of my heart," Miley and Nick sang together.

"I promise it will never be dark, I know," he sang to her.

"We're inseparable," they finished together. They both laughed softly when Nick had finished playing.

"Inseparable," Miley repeated, speaking instead of singing now, though.

"We kinda are," Nick said and put his guitar down.

"No, that's the name. Inseparable," she informed him.

"Well alright," he said.

"Now you get to open one of the boxes," Miley told him and handed him one of them, took it back, and gave him the other one. "This one first," she said as she held it out for him to take.

"Okay, let's see, what's in here?" he said as he tore the paper off slowly. He opened the box to find different colored note cards with writing on them. "What's this?" he asked her, not understanding what they were.

"They are the recipes to all of my favorite country foods that my mom cooks. She let me write down the recipes for you so that you can learn to cook for me," she told him and smiled proudly.

"I'm really not much of a cook," Nick informed her now.

"You'll be fine. They're easy!" Miley said. "Even I can cook them!"

They both laughed and Nick started to skim over the ingredients. Not one recipe didn't have butter or salt in it.

"You're going to die of a coronary if you keep eating this stuff, Miles," he laughed.

"I'm a southern girl; we're built to take it," she said and laughed too. She looked eagerly at the present on the side of the bed that she had reached for earlier. Nick laughed at her now. "Can I?" Miley asked him, as though he wouldn't let her.

"Yeah, go ahead, open it," he said and she grabbed the box so fast, Nick almost didn't see it. She tore the paper off and gasped for the fourth time that night as she saw the box. She took the lid off and picked up the contents.

"Nick! Oh my gosh!" she yelled as she leaned over to give him a huge hug. He had gotten her new Ugg boots, medium color and medium height. He knew that the ones she had were starting to wear out since she wore them so much, and he wanted to get her something that she would actually use.

"I thought you'd like them," he said as he caught his balance as she got off of him.

"I _love_ them," she said, drawing out the second word. He smiled at her subtlety.

"Good. Now can I open this last one?" he asked his girlfriend. She nodded her permission to him and he unwrapped the last present from her. "Miley? You need to give explanations before I open your gifts. What is this?" Nick asked her as he pulled out a white gold ring with two small diamonds in it.

"It's a promise to you that I will always care about you," she told him and showed him the engraving. "See, Phil 1:3."

"I thank God every time I remember you," they both said together.

"It's not really one that you'd wear. I didn't even know what size your finger was, but I didn't know what else to put it on," she explained.

"Well, since it's small enough to fit on your finger, I'm sure it won't fit on mine," he said and tried to push it down onto his pinky finger. It wouldn't budge. "I'll just keep it with me," he said and put it in his pocket. He leaned over and kissed her, again. She liked this whole, give a gift, get a kiss thing. "Okay, now your last present," he said and shoved the stuffed dog in her face.

"This is the last one? This was the first one!" she told him, trying not to sound disappointed, but she obviously was. 

"Fine, fine, you caught me!" Nick said and got off the bed. He walked over to his dresser and opened up one of the drawers. He pulled out a small box, smaller than all the rest of them, and handed it to her. She looked at the teal box with the white writing questioningly until Nick told her she could open it. She untied the white bow that was on top of it and ran her fingers over the 'Tiffany & Co' that was imprinted on the top.

"Nick," she halfway whined, but in a good way. He had spent way too much on her.

"Come on, open it!" he said and she took the lid off of the box to reveal 2 silver dog tags, that looked just like Nick's.

"What are these?" she asked and held them up and let them dangle. She read the engraving on it before he spoke. It read _'Destiny Hope Cyrus / Girlfriend of Diabetic Type 1 / Most Amazing Girl Ever'_.

"You've been there for me so much over the last few months in dealing with all of this. I just wanted you to know how much it meant to me," he told her and she nodded. He watched her expression as she turned it over to see the other side of the tags. In the corner was the diabetic medical sign. In the middle was a large heart with _'I Love You'_ engraved in it. The color drained out of her face, but quickly came back and she turned pink. He halfway smiled at her reaction, but not fully smiling because he didn't know how she'd take him telling her like this. "So do you like it?" he finally asked. She looked up at him and he saw a single tear roll down her cheek.

"I _love_ it," she said slowly and wiped it away quickly. "And I love you, too," she whispered, as if someone could hear her that wasn't supposed to.

"Really?" Nick asked her, even though he knew the answer.

"I think I do. I've never been in love before, but I've never felt this way with someone before, either. And if this is what love is, I'm totally fine with that," she told him and they both laughed a little.

"That's exactly how I feel about it," Nick told her and they kissed. She leaned more into him and before either of them realized it, she was on top of him. His hands rested on her lower back and as she adjusted over him, her shirt started to ride up. Nick couldn't help himself and his hand touched her bare skin. They both knew what was coming next if they didn't stop. Miley chose not to care. Nick however, did, and practically threw her off of him.

"Nick!" she squealed as she pulled her shirt back down. He gave her an apologetic look and she softened and leaned over to him and put her head on his shoulder and grabbed his arm and interlocked it with hers. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be, babe. It's fine," Nick said and kissed the top of her forehead. They sat there for a few moments before he squeezed her a little and she grunted a little. "Let's go watch the movie."

"Okay," Miley agreed and they walked downstairs to the living room. Nick put the DVD in and grabbed the remote. Miley had flopped down on the couch and halfway sat up when Nick walked over to the couch. He sat down on one end and she lied her head in his lap.

An hour and a half later, Miley was fast asleep. Nick was pretty close to it, but trying to stay awake for the ending of the movie, even though he knew what it was already. Kevin had gotten home a little earlier from his party and had gone upstairs already. Joe hadn't come out of his room, at least that Nick knew of. Denise and Kevin Sr. came in right when the movie was starting the credits.

"Hey, honey," Denise said as she walked over to Nick and Miley on the couch, and he put a finger over his lips to tell her that Miley was sleeping. "Sorry!" she whispered. She kissed him on the top of the head and put a hand on his shoulder. "Goodnight sweetie; not too late now. Happy Valentine's Day."

"Happy Valentine's Day, Mom. Goodnight," Nick whispered back to her. Denise and Kevin walked into their room and shut the door. Nick knew he had to wake Miley up soon, but really didn't want to. He was going to let her sleep for awhile longer until he saw that her phone was lit up and vibrating on the coffee table. He picked it up and saw "Brandi Cell" flashing on the screen. "Hello?" he whispered into the phone.

"Nick?" Brandi asked, a little stunned.

"Miley's sleeping," Nick said.

"Oh, well, tell her that she needs to be home soon," Miley's older sister said.

"I will. I was just getting ready to wake her up. Happy Valentine's Day, Brandi," he told her. He could almost hear her smile on the other end.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Nick," Brandi said. They said their goodbyes and got off the phone. Nick started to shift, hoping that it would softly wake his sleeping girlfriend. He was in luck, because he only had to move a little and she was up. Groggy, but up.

"Did I fall asleep?" Miley asked as she stretched her arms up above her head.

"Just for a moment," Nick lied to her and smiled. She poked him in the stomach and he pretended to be hurt until she kissed his cheek. "Come on, we've got to get you home," he said and grabbed her hand to pull her up. She followed him to the stairs and the slowly climbed them, because she was still a little weary. Nick helped her gather up all of her gifts and put them in a bag. He took the bag downstairs and she followed with her stuffed dog and one rose out of one of the vases. Nick grabbed the DVD out of the TV and put it in the bag as well and they walked to her house.

When they got to the door, Miley and Nick both went inside and put all of her stuff away, said hello to her parents who were still up, and walked back outside so they could "properly" say goodnight.

"This was the best Valentine's Day ever, Nick," Miley said and hugged him.

"Mine too," he said and hugged her back. He held her for a moment and leaned down to her ear. "I'm going to miss you," he whispered.

"Stop it, Nick," she said as she pulled away from him to look at his face.

"Miley, I'm sorry," Nick said. She knew he was, but that didn't change anything.

"I know, Nick, I just don't want you to leave me," Miley said and buried her head in his chest. His heart completely broke at the desperation in her voice. Nick and his brothers were leaving for their mall tour the next morning. Nick would be gone before she ever even got up.

"I'm sorry," he said again, his voice low so that it wouldn't crack.

"It's okay," she said slowly. "Don't find another girl, okay?"

"Never, babe," he said and kissed her forehead. He looked down at her and smiled. "I love you?" he said mostly as a question.

"I know you do. I love you, too, Nick. You should go. You have to leave early," she said and tried not to shudder when she said that he was leaving.

"I know. You can come over to my house later tomorrow when my mom's back home with Frankie and get your flowers," Nick told her, speaking of the 5 vases of roses that were still in his room.

"I will," she said and hugged him tight again. "Call me?"

"Every day," he told her and kissed her.

"I'm going to miss that," Miley whispered.

"Me too," he whispered back. "Happy Valentine's Day, Miles."

"Happy Valentine's Day," she said and kissed him again. After a minute, she pulled away to catch her breath. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight," Nick replied and hugged her one last time, kissed her cheek and walked down the stairs and up the hill to his house. He missed her already.

Each of them quickly went to bed in their separate homes and lied there for what seemed like hours, missing the other one until finally out of pure exhaustion, they both fell asleep.

February 15, 2007

Nick had been up for an hour, finishing up a little bit of packing and mostly dragging Joe out of his room and to the kitchen for breakfast, and it was only 4am. He had decided before he even went to bed the night before that he was going to take the flowers to Miley's house and set them on her doorstep for when she got up.

"Hey, I'll be back in a few minutes," Nick told his mom and dad as he approached the front door with a big box with the vases in it.

"Where are you going?" Kevin asked his little brother.

"They're Miley's," Joe whined and threw his head on the countertop.

"Joseph, sit up," Denise scolded. "Be back soon, honey. You need to leave the house in twenty minutes."

"I'll be back. See ya!" Nick yelled as he shut the door behind him. Nick carefully walked down the hill to Miley's. It was still fairly dark outside, although a little light was beginning to show through over the horizon. Nick walked up Miley's front steps and set the box down. He began unpacking the roses and setting them up. When he was finally finished, he admired his work for a moment and then proceeded down the steps, only to run back up them and place a sealed card in one of the bouquets. He started back down them before he heard the door open.

"Nick?" Miley asked in a groggy voice as she crossed her arms over her chest in an attempt to keep warm. It was California, but the mornings were still cold in February. She was in a loose t-shirt, cut off sweatpants and Uggs, her usual casual style. He turned around and smiled at her as he walked over to her. "What are you doing here?"

"I just wanted to bring these to you," Nick said and pointed to the flowers. Miley smiled as she saw them.

"Well thank you. I thought you'd be gone already," she said and outstretched her arms to him. He gladly accepted her invitation.

"I thought you'd be asleep," he said and laughed a little.

"I couldn't sleep. Something woke me up and I came down here to watch TV and wait for my parents to get up," Miley explained to him. "You should get going. I bet you're going to be late."

"I probably will be. But it was worth it to see you again," Nick told her and kissed her. "I'll call you every chance I get and I'll see you soon."

"Not soon enough," she replied and kissed him this time. "Bye," she said sadly, even though she knew he needed to go.

"Bye. Love you," Nick said, as casual as if they had been saying it to each other their whole lives.

"Love you, too, babe," Miley said and turned toward her front door to walk in. She smiled to herself as she turned around and started to carry the roses in. She looked up to see Nick halfway up the hill, walking backwards, watching her.

"Miss you already!" he called out to her in the early morning air.

"Creeper!" she yelled back and laughed. He laughed as well and waved to her.

"Love you, pretty girl!" Nick yelled as he finally turned around and started to walk the other way.

"Love you more," Miley called back as she took the last vase into the house and shut the door behind her. This was going to be a long separation for the two of them, but Miley knew for certain that the two of them, out of anyone she knew, could handle it and come out okay. She just knew it.

I'm so, so, so, so, so sorry that it's taken me so long to update! I was without a computer for about a week and this week has been so crazy with getting back to school and everything. But it's extra long just for my loyal readers. I promise it won't be like this all the time! Hope you guys like it! I was going to make it longer, but I wanted to get it up for you; and I hope there aren't too many mistakes…I honestly didn't proof read it, I just wanted to get it up. Please review! Oh, and here's this chapter's question.

So Miley and Nick obviously aren't together anymore (in real life…they are in my story still!), at least for the time being. Who should be their new romances? (Of course not including each other.) They can be from Disney, Nickelodeon, not a kids station, musicians, actors, models, whatever. Just remember that they are each only 15, though! We don't want anything illegal, lol!

Love you guys!


	18. Chapter 18

February 20, 2007

February 20, 2007

Miley and Nick had been separated only 5 days and Miley had cried at least once for 4 of them. Miley was generally a happy person; not a lot got her down. She wasn't even unhappy, she just missed Nick a lot.

"Miley, we're going to be late!" Tish called over the intercom to her daughter. Miley was looking for her other shoe.

"I'll be there in a second!" Miley said into the white box on her wall.

"5 minutes!" Tish sternly told her. Miley sighed. Even though her room was usually a mess, it was an organized mess at least. She knew where things were, but since Nick left, _she_ had been a mess and completely out of it.

Today, Miley, her mom, and her dad were going into the city to meet with Eddie and Gary to talk about some new Hannah stuff. Miley loved her job, but sometimes she wished the meetings didn't have to be at 8 o'clock in the morning.

Miley came downstairs and her parents were already waiting for. Brandi was in charge of Braison and Noah today, like most days. Miley was still worried about Brandi. She still hadn't said anything to her parents or to Trace. Miley was going to give her until the end of the day to do it.

"I'm going to tell them tonight if you don't," Miley whispered as she walked past Brandi. Her older sister shot her a look of dread.

"Don't," Brandi warned.

"I will," Miley told her, completely serious. Miley didn't have too many opportunities to be there for Brandi, she was always there for Miley just like an older sister should be, but as much as Miley liked helping other people, she hated this situation.

Miley and her parents left and in half an hour they were at Eddie's office. Gary was already there when they got there. Eddie was sitting behind his desk when the three of them came in, but quickly got up.

"My favorite girl!" Eddie said as Miley came over to him and gave him a hug. They all greeted each other and sat down in the small sitting area in his office. Eddie and Billy Ray sat on one couch, Miley and her mom on the other, and Gary sat in the big armchair. Miley sat as far away from him as possible. She still couldn't believe that he had told Vanessa not to see Zac!

"So what've we got today?" Billy Ray asked and clapped his hands together.

"Well, we wanted to first let Miley know that its official, Jesse McCartney _will _be on the show. We'll start filming again in May and he'll be your first guest," Eddie first told her.

"YES!" Miley shrieked and raised her hands in the air in excitement.

"Glad you are happy about that," Eddie told her.

"Why won't we be filming until May?" Billy Ray asked him.

"We've decided that Hannah should promote her new album for awhile," Gary explained to them.

"So signings and lots of appearances?" Tish assumed.

"Well, yes and no. The Cheetah Girls are losing their opening act in two weeks. We know it's kind of short notice, but we'd love for Hannah to perform with them," said Gary. Miley's face lit up and she answered for her parents.

"Hannah would love to!" she screamed. She hadn't been on tour before and she was so excited.

"So she'd be back in May?" Tish asked.

"No, she'd actually be back in April, but we wanted to give her a little time off in between the end of the tour and getting back into the swing of things. Tour can be really hard for the first time and we want her to be perfect," Eddie said.

They talked about other small things with the show and some minor details about the tour, but her parents would come back in a few days to sign everything and get everything worked out for her. This was the part she was really thankful for the fact that she was still a minor and her parents had to deal with everything.

On the way home, she called Nick and left a message on his phone. She figured that he was probably still sleeping or he was out eating breakfast. She just told him to call her back, she had exciting news.

They got home and Miley ran all over the house, with Noah on her heels, both of them screaming "I'm going on tour! I'm going on tour!"

"Tour, huh?" Trace asked as he walked out of his room, his hair a mess from obviously just being woken up.

"Yes! I'm so excited!" Miley yelled and jumped on his back as he turned to go back into his room. He fell to the floor from the surprise. "Sorry," she apologized as she got off of him.

"It's fine," Trace said. "I guess I'm up now, anyway," he said and followed Miley out the door, only to almost be run down by Noah.

"I'm going on tour! I'm going on tour!" she shrieked at him and he picked her up and carried her downstairs with them.

"That's what I heard," Trace laughed at his baby sister. They walked into the living room and Brandi and Braison were sitting down with Billy Ray and Tish.

"Hey guys, come sit down," Billy Ray said to the three of them. They did as they were told and sat down in the living room. "So I guess we all know that Miles is going on tour?" he asked as a question, but already knew the answer. They all nodded.

"Well, obviously Miley is going, and I'm going with her. Noah will be coming with us as well and so will Brandi because she'll play for Miley," Tish explained. Miley loved that her big sister was one of her guitarists. It made the few shows that she _had_ done a lot of fun.

"Am I going?" Braison whined. He pretended he didn't want to be on a bus with 4 other girls for a few months, but he really didn't want to sit at home with his dad. He loved his sisters and him and Miley were really close.

"That's up to you. You are old enough that you can make that decision on your own," Billy Ray told him. Now Braison was stuck. If he didn't go, he'd be miserable, but if he did go, his friends would make fun of him.

"Brais, please?" Miley asked him.

"Fine!" he said, trying to be upset about it.

"Now, Jimmy, you don't have to go if ya don't want to," Billy Ray told him. Jimmy had been Braison's nickname forever; kind of like Miley, but, well, Jimmy.

"It's fine, I'll go," Braison said finally. Miley leapt over and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Yay!" she screamed, partially in his ear. She was quite excited. Then her phone rang.

"Oh my gosh, it's Nick! I gotta go!" Miley said and ran off.

"That girl is crazy!" Brandi laughed.

"Shut up, you know you're excited!" Trace told her and playfully pushed her.

"Of course I'm excited, Trace. But she's out of control!" Brandi pointed out and they all laughed.

"Okay, fine, I'll have to agree with you there. I'm just glad I don't have to go. I don't think I could stand being on a bus with the only testosterone being Brais. It's really not enough," Trace laughed.

In the game room, Miley was on the phone.

"Nick! Oh my God! You will not believe what happened today!" she screamed into the phone.

"Umm, why don't you tell me?" Nick asked her, wondering why she was so excited and laughing a little at her.

"Guess!" Miley yelled.

"Umm, did you get a new puppy?" Nick asked, thinking that would be the only logical thing that could have happened.

"Nope, but that would have been pretty cool!" she paused and took a breath.

"What is it?" Nick said loudly into the phone, excited now himself.

"I'm going on tour!" she squealed and laughed.

"Babe, that's awesome!" he said to her. Now he completely understood her excitement.

"I know! I leave in two weeks!" she said. "It's with the Cheetah Girls. It'll be short, I'm kind of just filling in for the end of their tour. I'll be back at the end of April," Miley explained to him quickly.

"That's about when we'll be back. First week of May," Nick told her.

"I know. I miss you so much," Miley said, sadly.

"Miles, don't you dare. You have a right to be excited right now. Maybe we'll be close for a few dates and we can meet up?" Nick told her, trying to bring her hopes up, as well as his own. In a month when they were planning to do some shows in California, he was hoping to see her. Looks like that wasn't going to happen now.

"Okay, fine," she said and he could just picture her smiling. "But I do miss you."

"I miss you too, Miley." he said.

"At least now I'll be busy so I won't cry everyday," she told him, laughing a little.

"You've been crying?" he asked her, feeling worried.

"Just a few times. It's just weird not being able to see you whenever I want to, that's all," she explained to him. "I'm fine, though, really."

"Okay, fine. But you can call me _whenever_ you need to. I mean that," he told her. She knew he was being truthful, but it still didn't change that she couldn't see him.

They talked for awhile longer until Nick had to get off the phone. They were having an early meet and greet with some fans that had won a contest.

"Don't find a new girl," Miley warned him and laughed a little. She knew he would never do that.

"The only girl I want to find is in her parents house in California," Nick told her.

"Well there could be lots of girls that fit that category," Miley informed him.

"Oh really? A girl who has brown curly hair and blue green eyes that I can't say no to? A girl named Miley? A girl that I'm in love with?" Nick joked with her.

"Okay, so maybe it's me?" Miley said and giggled.

"Maybe," Nick deadpanned.

"Nick!"

"Of course it's you, babe. But I really gotta go. I love you so much."

"I love you, too. Call me later when you get a chance." Miley told him.

"I will. Bye!" Nick said to Miley.

"Tootles!" she said and laughed as she hung up the phone.

"You love him?" said a voice from behind Miley. She turned around and her face changed to a shade of dark pink.

"Umm, yes, I mean, no, I just, Trace, come on," Miley said, calming herself and walking over to him. She punched him in the arm and stuck her tongue out at him.

"I just worry about you, Miles. I don't want to see you get hurt," he said.

"Nick won't hurt me," Miley said as she stared him down.

"Hey! I like Nick! I'm just saying, be careful. You don't want everybody knowing that the two of you are together now do you?" Traced asked her.

"I can't say that it would be the worst thing that could happen, but we're not really telling anyone we are even together. His brothers suspect, but they don't officially know. I told you guys before we decided not to tell anyone," Miley explained to him.

"Okay, fine! I'll back off," he said and took a few steps back. "So how cool is it that you are going on tour?" he asked and prepared himself to be bombarded.

"Oh my gosh, Trace! I'm so excited!" she screamed at him and started jumping up and down.

"Here we go again," he said as he laughed at his little sister.

Miley and Brandi were hanging out in Miley's room, talking about boys, mostly Nick, of course.

"He's really been great for you Miley," Brandi said of Nick. Miley smiled.

"I know. He's really probably the best thing that's ever happened to me. At least in my personal life," Miley said and the girls laughed. "I just love that he gets along with all of you; that all of you like him and stuff."

"Of course we like him. Trace was really the only one I was worried about not liking him, but he really does, even if he won't admit it," Brandi said, reassuring her sister.

"Speaking of Trace," Miley started and looked seriously at her sister, "have you told him about David yet?" Brandi's head dropped.

"No," she said softly. Miley sighed loudly.

"Brands, you have to!" Miley begged.

"I know, I just don't know when to do it. I don't even know how to bring it up."

"Then I will," Miley said and stood up and walked to the door. "Trace! Can you come in here for a minute?" she yelled.

"Miley!" Brandi yelled back.

"It's for your own good, Brandi," Miley said as she looked back at her sister. "You have to get this out."

"What?" Trace yelled back as he came out of his room.

"Come here, Brandi needs to talk to you," Miley explained and Trace made his way down the hall to his sister's room.

"What's up?" he said as he walked in the room and approached Miley's bed where Brandi was sitting. Miley shut the door behind him and came to sit down next to Brandi. Miley patted a spot for Trace to sit down. "What's going on?"

"Brandi has something to tell you," Miley said as she grabbed her sister's hand with her own, and put her other hand on Brandi's arm. Brandi was silent.

"Brandi, what's this about?" Trace asked, concerned now. Brandi paused for a moment before she said anything.

"Dad called," Brandi said, finally looking up at her younger brother.

"Umm, okay? Why did he call you if he is downstairs?" Trace asked, obviously confused.

"Our dad, Trace. David," Brandi clarified for him. Trace tensed up and his eyes almost shot out of his head.

"He what?" Trace yelled as he jumped off the bed and started pacing around the room. "When?"

"It started a little after the first of the year," Brandi said softly. Trace whipped around to face her.

"This has been going on for a month and a half? Brandi! What were you thinking?" he yelled at her. Trace was two years younger than Brandi, but he always had been like the protective older brother. However, he had never really yelled at her, at least not like this.

"I'm sorry, okay?!" Brandi shouted back. "It's not like I didn't want to tell you! I was just scared!"

Miley put her arm around Brandi, and let her lean into her. Brandi started to cry and Trace kept pacing until he saw her.

"Brands, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you. I just wish you would have told me sooner," Trace said when he sat down on the bed next to her, replacing Miley as Brandi's support. "We need to tell Mom," he said quietly as he kissed the top of her head and rocked her softly back and forth. Brandi took in a deep sobbing breath and nodded her head into Trace's chest.

"I'm going to leave," Miley said softly as she approached Brandi's door to go to her own and let her older siblings have some time alone.

"No, come here, Miles. You're old enough that you need to know what's going on in this family. Will you go get Mom and Dad and have them come up here?" Trace asked her.

"NO! I don't want to tell them yet," Brandi said as she lifted her head off of Trace.

"We are telling them now," Trace said firmly and with weak eyes, Brandi gave him a look of understanding and nodded her head again. Trace looked and Miley and Miley left to go find her parents.

"Mom?" Miley called out as she came down the stairs.

"Yeah, baby," Tish called from the game room. Miley entered to find the rest of her family on the floor playing Clue.

"You wanna play?" Braison asked her and Miley shook her head no. She just stood there for a few minutes until she could finally speak.

"Mom, Dad, can I talk to you?" Miley asked them. They both looked up at her with worried looks on their faces.

"Sure, let's go into the living room," Billy Ray said as he helped Tish off of the floor. The three of them walked into the living room after Tish told Braison and Noah to keep playing the game.

"What's wrong?" Tish asked her daughter and Miley looked up at both of her parents.

"Well, it's not really me," Miley started to say and both of her parents looked at her in confusion. "It's Brandi. She and Trace are up in her room. Trace told me to come and get you."

"Is she hurt?" Billy Ray asked as he took off for the stairs, taking them two at a time, and Tish close behind.

"No! She's not hurt. Just be gentle when you go in. She's upset," Miley told them and they both slowed down. Miley followed them to Brandi's room. Her door was open from when Miley had left, but Billy Ray knocked anyway. Brandi had stopped crying for the time being and her and Trace were just facing each other talking quietly.

"What's up?" Tish asked her daughter and son as she walked into the room, passing Billy Ray in an attempt to get to the bed first. She sat down on the other side of Brandi and put a hand on her leg to comfort her. "What's wrong, baby?"

"I, I, I, he, and I just, I'm sorry," Brandi stuttered as she started sobbing again into Trace's shirt that was already soaked with tears. Brandi usually was not this emotional, but something David had said obviously upset her. Tish looked up to Trace, looking for some sort of answer.

"You want me to tell them?" Trace asked as he looked down at his older sister. She nodded yes and he cleared his throat and paused for a second. Billy Ray stood at the end of the bed, Miley sitting on it next to him, and Tish were all waiting for Trace's response. Miley wondered how he was going to tell them.

"Well?" Billy Ray asked, getting impatient.

"David called," Trace said softly and Tish's eyes got wider than Trace's had when he found out. Billy Ray turned red and started pacing. Trace had obviously pick up on that habit from him.

"When?" Billy Ray yelled. He didn't really mean to yell at Brandi, but he was upset.

"Early January," Trace replied, knowing that Brandi wasn't ready to talk yet.

"Oh my God, Billy Ray, stop!" Tish yelled at her husband for him to stop pacing. "It's okay, honey, we'll get through this," she said and took her daughter into her arms from Trace. Trace reached over for Miley's hand and she gladly offered it to him. She knew he was really upset about all of this, too.

"What did he say?" Billy Ray asked as he firmly planted himself next to the bed where he had been before, trying to stay calm.

"I'm not sure. She wouldn't really tell me," Trace said, looking up at Billy Ray and then back down to Brandi, waiting for an answer.

"He just wants to keep in contact with me. He told me that he was my real father and that Dad was just doing it because he had to. And I think he wants me to move in with him," Brandi said slowly through the sobs.

"Brands, you know that's not true. I love you just as much as I love Miley and Braison and Noah. Both of you," Billy Ray said and put a hand on Trace's shoulder. "I am your dad, no matter who your father is."

"I know that, just the way he said it. It was so cold. I kinda feel bad for him. He hasn't seen Trace or I in years," Brandi said. She was always a softie.

"He made that choice, sweetie," Tish told her and rubbed her back. "He decided that he didn't want to be a father anymore. Billy did."

"I guess. I just don't know how he even found my number to call me in the first place. He said he's in California," Brandi told them and Tish got a worried look on her face.

"We'll get a restraining order. And you'll get a new phone number," Billy Ray said, very protective of all of his children, biological or not.

"And let's not tell people about this," Tish said. "The last thing we need is David thinking that he's going to be famous because of this."

The five of them, well really four because Miley just sat and listened, talked about all of the issues for awhile longer. She didn't have much input because she didn't really understand all the legal stuff they were talking about, but she wanted to be there for Brandi, and for Trace.

Billy Ray and Tish left after awhile and let Brandi and Trace be together and talk about things.

"I'm going to go, too. It's getting late and I should be getting to bed," Miley said and stood up to leave.

"Miles, thank you," Brandi said, reaching out and touching her arm.

"I'd do anything for you, Brands, you know that," Miley replied with a smile.

"I know, but, just, thank you."

"Anytime."

"I'm glad you finally made her tell me," Trace said to Miley as he got up and hugged her tight.

"Me too," Miley mumbled into his chest and hugged back. "Goodnight."

"Night," he replied.

"Night Brandi," Miley said as she reached the door.

"Goodnight," Brandi said and smiled for the first time that night.

Miley went into her room and changed into her pajamas and washed her face and brushed her teeth. She heard Trace's door open and close and assumed that he had decided to go to bed as well. She left her room to go get a bottle of water from the kitchen before she went to bed. As she passed Brandi's room, the door was open just enough for Miley to see in. She heard a guitar playing softly and couldn't help but listen to what Brandi was writing about. However, it wasn't Brandi's voice she heard.

"So don't let anyone scare you, you know that I'll protect you, always all through the thick and thin, until the end," Trace sang to Brandi as she lied on her bed, eyes half open, listening to her brother sing to her. Miley stood in the doorway and watched. "You better watch it, you know you don't cross it because I'm always here for you. And I'll be here for you. I know how it feels believe me, I've been there. I know what it feels like, tell me Brandi."

After Trace stopped playing, he kissed the top of her head and turned to walk out of her room. Miley had moved just a few seconds before, because she didn't want to get caught. She ran down the stairs and into the kitchen to get her water.

"Oh, hey, I thought you went to sleep," Trace said, surprised to see Miley in the kitchen.

"Oh, umm, yeah, I had to get something to drink," she said and held up the bottle.

"K," he replied and walked past her to the fridge himself, looking for something to eat.

"It's a really good song, Trace," Miley said softly. Trace stopped looking and shut the door, turning around to look at Miley.

"I was just singing, ya know. I'm worried about her. She cares too much about people," he said and walked over to Miley. "Kind of like someone else I know," he said as he grabbed her in a hug, his arms closing just over her shoulders because he was so tall. They stayed that way for a moment, until Miley realized how tired she really was.

"Love you, Trace," she said as she pulled away from him.

"Love you, too, Smiley," he said and messed up the front of her hair as he rubbed it. She scorned at him and stuck her tongue out before she started laughing. "You're going to wake everyone up," Trace whispered.

"Fine. Goodnight," Miley smiled and waved at her brother as she walked out of the kitchen.

"Night," Trace said as she left. He went back to the fridge and opened it up to see what he could find. He didn't see anything worth eating, so he shut the door again and leaned up against it. "God," he said as he looked up to the ceiling, "please let Brandi be okay. And don't let anything like this ever happen to Noah or Miley. I don't think I could handle it."

Sorry it took so long again. I really just have so much going on right now that it's hard to get inspiration to write. If anyone has anything that they would like me to include, I'm all up for ideas. The next few chapters will be about Nick and Miley on the road and separated. Also, him coming out with his diabetes at the DLife Carnival for a Cure. Is there anything else you'd like me to put in the next few chapters? Let me know, please! And as always, review, please! Thanks!

And here's the question for this chapter: If Miley and Nick ever got married, where do you think they would live? California? Tennessee? New Jersey? Somewhere else? Let me know what you think in your review! Thanks!


	19. Chapter 19

March 6, 2007

March 6, 2007

Miley had left for tour a few days ago, with Tish, Brandi, Braison, and Noah in tow. They were in Tennessee tonight, and they'd be picking up her Mamaw, who would be with them for the rest of the tour. She'd played two shows so far and was so happy about how everything was going. She still missed Nick, but at least now she was doing something with herself.

"Hey Miles, we're here!" Braison called to Miley who was in her bunk, resting. She tried to ignore him because she was tired; however, when she felt the bus stop, she was up immediately. She was so happy to be back home. She loved it here and sometimes she wished she could live here all the time.

It was a little chilly outside still, so Miley grabbed a jacket and pulled on her Uggs and walked down the stairs of the bus and out onto the pavement. She wrapped her arms around herself as she breathed the fresh, Tennessee air in.

"Come on now, don't get all sentimental!" Braison mocked and shoved her a little. She pounced at him as he was running away and landed on his back. He carried her over to the grass and finally collapsed and threw her on the ground next to him.

"Brais! I'm gonna get all dirty!" she yelled at him.

"So what. You're gonna take a shower before you do anything anyway!" he told her and grabbed a handful of grass and shoved it in her face.

"Gross!" she shrieked and got up to tackle him, but he was too fast and was up and away from her before she was even off the ground.

"I wanna play!" Noah yelled as she ran as quickly as she could down the stairs of the bus with out falling. Miley and Braison laughed at her as she ran over to them.

"Hey! Me too!" Brandi said as she came off the bus as well, mocking her little sister.

The four of them walked around outside for awhile, every now and then taking off in a sprint to catch another sibling. It wasn't long, though, until Tish called them all back onto the bus.

"Miley, you need to go take a shower. They want you to do a meet and greet before the show today instead of after, so you need to be getting ready. Brandi, I need you to watch Braison and Noah for awhile. I have to go get Mamaw," Tish told all of them as they were all sitting in the living room of the bus.

"That's fine. We can find something to do around here, can't we?" Brandi said and put an arm around Noah.

"We can sing!" Noah exclaimed and they all laughed.

"Oh great. It never stops does it?" Braison joked and looked up at his mom.

"It never does, baby, it never does," she said and kissed the top of his head. "I'll be back in a little bit. Miley, after you get out of the shower, they want you in hair and makeup at 4."

"Alright, Mom. Thanks!" Miley said and waved to her mom, along with her brother and sisters, as their mom walked out of the bus.

"Party time!" Braison yelled as the door shut and got up to play the air guitar. Brandi and Miley laughed at him.

"I don't think so, mister. Now you can stay out here and sing with me and Noey or you can go into Mom's room and call your girlfriend," Brandi teased with him.

"I don't have a girlfriend!" Braison defended as he blushed.

"Right. And I'm not Hannah Montana!" Miley joked with him and got up to get in the shower.

--

"Dude, seriously! That's not even a word!" Kevin told Joe as they were sitting in their tour bus.

"Hyperventipalitate is SO a word!" Joe defended and Nick looked up from his notebook to listen to his brothers' argument.

"Hyperventilate is a word, and palpitate is a word, but _that_ is not a word!" Kevin said.

"Nick, help me out here!" Joe begged as he turned around to his younger brother.

"Sorry, dude, I'm going to have to with Kevin on this one," Nick said and strummed his guitar a little.

"Ugh! This is so unfair!" Joe said and threw his arms up in the air before turning back to Nick. "What's the sum of 6 and 43 divided by 7?" he spit out.

"What? I don't know," Nick said, looking strangely at his brother.

"Exactly! You can't do math!" Joe pointed out.

"Okay, and?" Nick asked as he became even more confused.

"I can! I can do math and you can't!" Joe taunted. Nick rolled his eyes.

"Okay, well, you can do math and I can decipher between real and fake words. Awesome, Joseph!" Nick teased and held his hand up for a high five. Joe scowled at him.

"Whatever," Joe said and turned back to Kevin. "I'm just _that_ cool that I can make up words like that."

"Sure," Kevin said and rolled his eyes, much like Nick had just done. "Come on, now eat my dust sucker!" he yelled as the car he was controlling on the screen screeched forward and left Joe's at a standstill.

"Not fair!" Joe yelled again and picked up his controller to try and beat Kevin. Nick chuckled lightly to himself and went back to his notebook.

After awhile of playing, Joe and Kevin got pretty bored with the game and were trying to decide what to do. They decided to figure out what Nick was writing.

"Whatcha doing?" Joe asked as he tried to discreetly hover over Nick. Kevin laughed at Joe's obvious attempt that was failing.

"Writing," Nick said and pulled his notebook shut.

"Writing, huh?" Kevin asked with an eyebrow raised.

"Yup," Nick replied, trying to get them to leave him alone.

"Can we see?" Joe asked.

"It's not done yet," Nick told them.

"Come one, we can help you with it," Kevin said and sat down on the couch next to Nick.

"Yeah, let us help," Joe halfway begged as he flopped himself on the other side of the couch.

"Fine, but I've got final say on this whole song," Nick told them. His brothers agreed and Nick started playing. "Okay, all I've really got is a verse, and the chorus. Bridge, too," he explained and his brothers laughed.

"So you pretty much have the whole song written?" Kevin asked.

"No. I can't come up with a good first verse. The one I have is going to have to be the second one. It just wouldn't make sense as the first," Nick said.

"Alright, well play it!" Joe told Nick and he began to sing.

"Small talk on IM, just one word sentences. It's cool we're just friends. And if I had my way, we'd talk and talk all day," Nick sang and his brothers smiled. They knew who it was about as soon as he opened his mouth to sing. Everything he did was about her, it seemed. "Everyone knows it's meant to be," he continued, "falling in love, just you and me, 'til the end of time, 'til I'm on her mind, it'll happen. I've been making lots of plans like a picket fence and a rose garden. I'll just keep on dreaming; but it's cool cause we're just friends," Nick finished and continued to play the melody on his guitar.

"Catchy," Kevin pointed out.

"What'd ya think?" Nick asked.

"I think you're head over heals for her," Joe said and laughed a little. Nick, for the first time that they had said something about Miley and him, didn't blush. He just smiled knowingly and let it go.

"There's more," Nick told them.

"Well…" Kevin said slowly and waited for Nick to sing it.

"Thinking about how, we're gonna say our vows; it's cool we're just friends. As she walks down the aisle, I see all my friends smile; cause now we're more than friends," Nick sang and then started in on the first few lines of the chorus before he stopped playing. Well?" Nick asked his brothers.

"You think you're going to marry her?" Joe asked bluntly.

"I don't know. I've never felt this way before. And I could live the rest of my life feeling this way," Nick told them.

"That's pretty bold, man," Kevin said and put an arm around him. "She's a cool girl, Nick. Don't let her go."

"I don't plan on it," Nick said and they chatted for a few minutes about her before Kevin and Joe helped Nick finish the song.

"Sounds like a hit," Joe remarked when they had finished it.

"Isn't everything?" Kevin joked. Their fame had been rising quite rapidly. It seemed like each show they went to there were more and more fans, who kept getting louder and louder.

"One can only hope," said Nick and put his guitar down. "I'm starving!"

"Me too. Kevin, make us some food," Joe commanded. Kevin looked at him like he was crazy.

"Fat chance," he said.

"Fine, Nick, go make us some food," Joe told his younger brother.

"Nice try," Nick laughed back. "I'll get my own food."

"But I'm hungry!" Joe whined.

"Then make your own food!" Kevin retorted and got up to use the bathroom. Nick and Joe were each in their little kitchen, looking for something to eat. Nick picked out some cereal and while he was pouring his milk, Joe grabbed a bag of chips and flopped on the couch. He turned on the TV and then the satellite. Nick sat down at the flip down table and started to eat his cereal.

"Hey, look who it is!" Joe exclaimed and pointed at the TV. Kevin was just walking out of the bathroom and "knocked" on Garbo's bunk, telling him to get up. They were almost to where they'd be stopping to set up the show in Arizona.

"Who?" Kevin asked until he heard the music coming from the TV.

"You get the limo out front, hottest styles, every shoe, every color!" blasted from the TV. Joe couldn't help himself and got up and started dancing and singing to it.

"Dude, that's so uncool," Nick told his brother and laughed at him.

"Hey, she's your girlfriend," Joe threw back at him.

"No one ever said she was my girlfriend," Nick explained.

"We talking about Miley?" Garbo asked as he came out of his bunk and ran his hand through his sleep-hair.

"Yes, and Nick's trying to tell us they aren't together," Kevin explained.

"Give it up, man. We all know it's true," Garbo said and sat down next to Nick.

"How is it true? I can't even see her!" Nick tried to explain. They all laughed at him.

"Yeah, but you call her every chance you get. And text all day," Kevin said.

"And?" Nick asked. "We are just, like, best friends."

"You wrote a song about marrying her," Joe deadpanned and Garbo's eyes got wide.

"You wrote a song about marrying her?" Garbo asked Nick. Nick blushed slightly.

"Maybe," he said softly. All the guys started laughing at him.

"Seriously, are you together?" Joe asked and everyone shut up and looked at Nick.

"Yes," Nick replied, still speaking softly.

"Oh my gosh! Since when?" Joe asked like a little girl. Nick and the rest of them halfway laughed at him for this.

"A while. Late January? When she came over to help me paint my room," Nick explained.

"Awesome, man!" said Garbo and gave him a high five.

"I knew it!" Joe screamed. "Kevin, I told you that they didn't just paint!"

"We did paint, Joe," Nick said, looking at his brother strangely.

"But you guys did other stuff, too!" Joe pointed out.

"Not really. We really were painting."

"How'd you ask her?" Kevin asked. He knew that Nick was dying to tell them anyway.

"We were painting separate walls," Nick started to say excitedly, "and I asked her how I was doing and she turned around and I had written 'Will you be my girlfriend?' on the wall."

"Smooth. And they say I'm the romantic one!" Kevin said and patted his younger brother on the back.

"Asking Kaila to be your valentine by filling her car with flowers and candy wasn't too bad on your part, though," Garbo pointed out. Kevin smiled thinking about his girl. They weren't exclusive, but it was getting there.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Kevin said and went into the kitchen to get an energy bar.

"I'm romantic, too!" Joe whined. They all just looked at him and laughed slightly. "What?"

"Joe, writing AJ's name in her own yard with forks in the ground isn't exactly romantic," Nick told his brother.

"Hey! She liked it!" Joe defended.

"And only God knows why," Kevin said and laughed. Just then, Nick's phone went off.

"Miley alert!" Joe and Kevin both said at the same time.

"Shut up!" Nick yelled at them and answered the phone. "Hello?"

"Hey, what's up?" Miley asked him as Nick got up and walked to his bunk and shut the curtain. This was about as much privacy he got on the bus when his dad was sleeping in the back room.

"Not much, pretty girl. You?" he asked and smiled, because he could tell she was smiling as well.

"Same. I'm in hair and makeup right now," she explained.

"_Hair_ and makeup? Don't you just put on a wig?" Nick laughed.

"It takes longer than you think," Miley said and giggled back. "So where are you guys tonight?"

"Phoenix. What about you?"

"Back in Tennessee. We're picking up my Mamaw today."

"That sounds like fun," Nick said and there was a short pause. "I told the guys about us."

"Really?" Miley asked excitedly.

"Yeah. They kept bothering me about it. And they won't say anything. It's nice to finally be able to tell someone, though."

"They didn't already know?"

"They did, just not officially."

"Oh," she paused. "I miss you."

"I miss you, too, babe. I hate that we're so far away."

"Me too. Where are you at for the next week or so?"

"Well Phoenix tonight, then Irvine, and San Francisco, and then onto North Carolina, Virginia; pretty much all of the New England states."

"So pretty much no chance of us meeting up anywhere, huh?" she asked.

"I guess not. But I'll be home soon and so will you. The time will fly!" he said, trying to cheer her up, and convince himself that it wasn't so bad.

"I hope so. When's your charity?"

"The 11th. It's in New York, so it will be good to be close to home. Jersey side, that is."

"Hmmmm," Miley said softly.

"What?" Nick asked, laughing at her a little.

"Oh, nothing. I was just looking at this umm, thing, in my, umm, room."

"Okay, whatever. So is Hannah going to have a good show tonight?" he asked. He thought it was funny to pretend Hannah was another person. Miley liked it, too, though.

"Of course she is!" Miley yelled into the phone. "She's having a meet and greet in about an hour."

"Those are always fun!" Nick said.

"Yeah, I'm looking forward to it. It's the first one I've been able to do since we've been on the road."

"What, Miley is doing a meet and greet? I thought Hannah was?" Nick laughed.

"Oh shut up!" Miley said playfully. "So who do you like better? Miley or Hannah?"

"We've had this conversation before."

"But I'm asking again. Miley or Hannah?"

"Hannah's fun and all. She's got some pretty cool clothes. But Miley's got everything else. She's got a great family, great friends, and an amazing boyfriend who loves her."

"You always know the right thing to say, don't you?"

"Oh yeah, you know me, Mr. Cool!" Nick said. He and Miley both laughed.

"Something like that. Well, they want me to get off the phone so they can finish my makeup," Miley told him. Nick was sad because he wanted to keep talking to her, even if it was really about nothing.

"Alright. Have a great show tonight, babe," he said softly. He knew his brothers were probably listening by now.

"You too, Nick. I can't wait until I can see you again and you can hug me," she said sadly.

"I can't wait for that either. Tell everyone I said hey!" he said.

"Oh yeah, tell everybody there I said to have a good show!" she exclaimed.

"Will do. Love you, Miles."

"Love you, too."

"Bye."

"Tootles!" Miley said and they both hung up the phone. Nick looked over at the wall in his bunk and saw the one picture he brought of Miley and himself. He looked at her face every night before he went to sleep. He missed her so much, but knew that this was his life now, the touring and being away from home, and as much as he loved it, he couldn't get used to being away from her.

Nick finally got out of his bunk to find Kevin and Garbo battling it out on Guitar Hero and Joe was watching. Nick quietly sat down next to Joe, hoping that they were all too consumed with the game.

"You refer to Hannah as a separate entity?" Kevin asked, not looking up from the game. Before Nick had a chance to respond, Garbo piped in.

"Amazing boyfriend who loves her?" Garbo asked, in a girly voice. Nick was about to speak up, until Joe started in.

"Babe? You call her babe?" Joe quipped. Poor Nick didn't really know what to do. So he just decided to be honest.

"The Hannah/Miley conflict is funny, Kev. Yes, I call her babe, and yes, I love her," Nick finally responded. Not once did the boys stop playing the game, but they heard him. "Just don't say anything about the relationship to anyone. We don't want this getting out or anything."

"You got it!" Kevin said.

"No problem, Mr. Cool," Joe joked and Nick punched him in the arm. "Hey! You're getting strong, little man.

"That or you are just a sissy," Nick laughed.

"I am most definitely not a sissy," Joe said and puffed his chest up to look 'manly' or something like that.

"Maybe not by your definition," Garbo said.

"I'm not by ANY definition," Joe replied, confident in himself.

"We should buy you a dictionary," Kevin said and they all laughed. Only a little while longer and they would be in Phoenix, getting ready for the show. Nick just wished Miley was there, and he was pretty sure she wanted the same thing.

--

'Hannah' had done her sound check awhile earlier and was not just hanging out backstage, preparing to go on. The concert started in about half an hour, but it looked like all the seats were already full! Miley loved to play at concerts like these, where it was a huge group of fans who loved music and loved to sing and dance with their friends. That's what life's all about anyway, right?

Miley had her laptop out and was on the internet. They usually didn't get much of a signal on the bus (only sometimes) and she wanted to check her email and all her other accounts. And she just happened to also be looking up directions.

"Whatcha doin' Miles?" Brandi asked as she came and sat next to Miley on the couch.

"Just checking my stuff," Miley said, not taking her eyes off the screen.

"What could be that interesting?" Brandi asked. "What're you lookin' at?"

"When we get a break for a few days. We'll be in Virginia."

"We should go to the beach."

"I was thinking of something else," Miley said mischievously. Brandi nudged her a little to let her in on the plan. Miley told her and Brandi agreed that it would be a good idea. Now they just had to get it approved by their mom.

--

Sorry so long on the wait for an update again guys. Things are just crazy right now. I know this chapter didn't have anything really important in it, but I needed a sort of filler chapter between the last one and Nick's diabetes charity. Review as always, please, and don't forget to answer this chapter's question! Love you guys! Thanks so much for reading!

Question: If you could date one of the JoBros, which one would it be and why? Like, why would you think you would be a good match for them and vice versa? Similarities? Differences? I just want to get some ideas. And I know these questions don't seem important, and they are mostly for fun, but I'm getting some good ideas for my story with them.


	20. Chapter 20

March 11, 2007

March 11, 2007

"Rise and shine, Nicky," Joe called to his brother who was still in his bunk. Nick was up, he just hadn't gotten up, or really even _moved_ yet.

"I'm up," Nick finally said quietly. He didn't want to get up. He knew what today was, and he was more nervous than he'd ever been, about anything. How was everyone going to take it? How would they react? Would he get upset on stage? He was scared.

Kevin came by a couple of minutes later with a juice box and a granola bar for Nick. He knocked on the side of the bunk and waited until Nick pulled back the curtain.

"Yes?" Nick asked and Kevin handed him his breakfast. "Thanks, man."

"Everything will be fine," Kevin said and put a hand on Nick's shoulder, which was pretty high up since Nick was on the top bunk.

"I hope so. I just wish I wasn't freaking out like I am," Nick said, swinging his legs over the side of the bed and looking down at Kevin.

"You should call her," Kevin said and smiled at Nick. "She'll calm you down."

"I know," Nick said and took a bit of his granola bar. "I'll call her," he said as he chewed.

"After you finish eating," Kevin laughed and Nick smiled at him with granola and chocolate sticking out of his teeth. "Nice."

"I know!" Nick laughed at himself and finished eating his breakfast. He grabbed his phone and scrolled down to Miley's number. It rang a few times before she picked up.

"Hello?" she answered in a perky voice.

"Good morning, my love. Why are you so chipper?" Nick asked her, still a little tired.

"I'm just excited. We get a few days off from the tour to go out and, umm, you know, explore and stuff," she explained to him.

"Cool, cool," he said and didn't say anything else.

"You alright?" Miley asked. She knew what today was and she was nervous for him, but she knew that he could do it.

"Umm, I guess so. Just nervous," Nick told her and sighed.

"I know, but you'll be fine," Miley said in a sing song voice, mimicking the song she had sang for him awhile back. Nick laughed and cheered up a little more.

"I love it when you sing to me," Nick told her.

"I love you," Miley responded.

"Awww, you're so freaking cute, Miles," he said.

"I know," she laughed at herself. "Hey, get your computer up and try to get on the internet," she informed him.

"Alright. Probably since we are less than 2 hours from city I'll get something on this Sprint thingy," Nick said and plugged in his wireless Sprint card to his computer. It took a few moments for it to register, but it came up fairly quickly. "Okay, got it. What's up?"

"I'm going to get off the phone. I'll see you in a minute," Miley told him.

"K, sounds good," Nick said and they both hung up the phone. Nick brought up AIM and a few seconds after that, Miley signed on. She asked to see his webcam and he asked to see hers. Now they could see each other, and it was one of the only times they had been able to both have internet at the same time.

He waved eagerly to her and she waved back and motioned for him to turn up the volume. He did as he was told and he could see her turn up hers as well. He turned on his mic and heard her voice.

"Hey!" she said and Nick saw Kevin, Joe, Garbo, and Kevin Sr. all look back at Nick's bunk. Nick smiled at them and pulled his curtain shut.

"Hey! How are you?" Nick asked.

"I told you already that I'm good!" Miley said and laughed at him.

"What's going on?" Joe asked from the other side of the bus. "Where's Miley?"

"Dude, they are on their webcams. Gross," Kevin joked and the guys laughed.

"Shut up!" Nick yelled at them. "I'm sorry," he said to Miley.

"It's okay. I barely got time to myself either, so I understand," she told him.

"Where are you?"

"I'm in my mom's bedroom in the back. She's eating breakfast with everybody else."

"Cool. So what's up?"

"I can't just want to see my boyfriend?" she asked coyly. He smiled at her.

"Well I guess that's fine, but usually when you get us on the webcam, you have something important to tell me," he told her, and she knew he was right.

"I just wanted to check on you," she said and paused. "You are going to do great today, Nick."

"I know. I'll be fine," he said, trying to convince himself of what he was saying.

"I know you will. And I'm always right here for you," Miley said and looked over to the side of the bed and then back at Nick.

"I know that you are," he said slowly and sighed again.

"Which brings me to my next point," she said and pulled her guitar up on the bed and smiled at him.

"You wrote another song for me?" Nick asked, smiling.

"Well since you are the only thing I ever think about, I guess it's appropriate," she laughed and started to play.

"And what's this one called?" he asked her, raising an eyebrow.

"You can help me with that," she said and winked at him.

"So should I prepare myself for your confession of undying love for me?" he joked with her.

"Maybe in the next song," she joked back, "or this one," she laughed, "you'll just have to wait and see."

"Fine. So play this thing for me!" he laughed at her and she started to play louder and focus on the music. He loved watching her perform like this, just to him or her family, way more than watching her at a concert, but he took what he could get. Before she started to sing, Nick hit the record button on his video player; he had a feeling this was one he'd want to remember.

Nick was so focused on Miley that he had no idea that Kevin, Joe, and Garbo were all standing outside of Nick's bunk, listening to what Miley had to say. Kevin Sr. just laughed quietly at the boys.

"I'll be right here where you need me, anytime just keep believing, and I'll be right here. If you ever need a friend, someone to care and understand, I'll be right here. All you have to do is call my name, no matter how close or far away, ask me once and I'll come, I'll come running. And when I can't be with you dream me near; keep me in your heart and I'll appear; all you gotta do is turn around, close your eyes, look inside, I'm right here," Miley sang to him. Nick smiled at her the whole time, not once taking his eyes off of her. All of a sudden, he heard a soft array of applause. He had forgotten that his brothers were probably listening this whole time.

"Thank you," Nick said to Miley after she had finished. "You had a bigger audience than you thought," he said quickly and pulled the curtain back to expose Kevin, Joe, and Garbo all waiting anxiously to make fun of Nick. They shyly waved to Miley and when she waved back, they all took off in different directions to get away from the happy couple.

"You liked it?" she asked, even though she knew he did.

"Of course. I love when you write stuff for me," he told her. This was one of those times that he wanted to kiss her so badly that he almost kissed the laptop. "Miss you."

"Miss you, too," she said and gave him a wry smile. "You're going to be amazing today, Nick, don't you worry."

"Only if you promise," he said and held up his pinky.

"I promise, you are going to be fine," she replied and help hers up as well. It was their long distance pinky promise. Cheesy? Yes. Needed? Definitely.

"I need to get off of here and get ready, though. We've got to be ready to go when we get off the bus, for sound check and stuff," he told her, even though he wanted to talk to her all day.

"I understand," she said, not getting as upset as she usually did. Nick took it as that she was excited to be off for a few days, and to not make him anymore upset. "Will you call me if you need me?" she asked him.

"Of course. I'll definitely call you after and let you know how it went, though," he told her.

"Alright, sounds good!" she said cheerfully. "Love you," she said and blew him a kiss. He pretended to catch it and put it in his pocket.

"Love you more," he responded as he air kissed her.

"Not possible," she smiled at him and he smiled back.

"I'll call you," told and waved.

"You better," she replied and waved back.

They both closed their webcams and computers. Nick leaned back in his bunk and put his head on the wall and looked up. He turned his head to the side and looked at the picture of Miley and him and sighed. She really did love him. And she was always "right here," in theory at least.

He pushed the laptop to the side and got out of his bunk to see Joe and Garbo anxiously awaiting Nick's presence in the sitting area of the bus.

"Soooooooo?" Joe asked in a long, drawn out voice.

"What?" Nick asked as if he had no idea what was going on and went to get a bowl of cereal.

"What do you mean what?" Garbo asked.

"What do you want me to tell you? You listened to it all," Nick said as he poured his milk.

"No we weren't," Joe defended and Nick looked at him with knowing eyes. "Okay fine, so we heard a little," he said and pinched his fingers together.

"Whatever," Nick mumbled and sat down on the couch. They sat in silence for a few moments, all of them just watching TV until Kevin's phone went off from his bunk.

"Oooo, Kaila," Joe mocked and made kissy faced. Kevin rolled his eyes and walked off to get his phone.

"What the?" he quietly asked himself as he picked up the phone and saw the caller ID. "Hello?" he finally answered.

"Kevin, please don't let anyone know I'm calling you," she whispered, even though she didn't need to.

"Okay, umm, what's going on?" he asked quietly as well.

"I'm coming to the concert today," she said with a jittery voice. Kevin smiled to himself.

"How?" he asked.

"We have a few days off. I told Nick we were going to the beach and stuff. He has no idea," she told him.

"Don't worry, Miley. I won't say a thing!" Kevin whispered to the point where he was almost unable to hear his own voice over the roar of the bus engine.

"Great. I'll call you when we get closer. You'll have to let me in. I don't want all the paparazzi and whatnot following me here," she explained. They talked for a few more minutes about the plan and Kevin finally got off the phone and rejoined the group.

"Did you not even talk to her?" Joe asked.

"What?" Kevin asked him and sat in one of the chairs at the table.

"We were listening to see what you were saying," Joe explained.

"You, what? What did you hear?" Kevin asked nervously and they laughed at him.

"Nothing, man. You're quiet!" Garbo said and Kevin let his fears go. They hadn't heard him. This was going to be fun.

"I'm getting in the shower!" Joe told them. They all nodded, not really needing to know that, but okay with it anyway.

After a few moments, Garbo piped up again. "So Nick, you excited about today?"

"Excited wouldn't be the word I would use," Nick said, trying to be strong. He had to do it sooner or later.

"What would be?" Kevin asked him.

"Nauseous," Nick deadpanned. This was going to be the worst day since he had found out he had diabetes, he was sure of it.

--

"We're almost there!" Miley squealed as she jumped up and down a little in her seat as she peered out the window of the bus. They could see the skyline of the city. They'd be there soon. All of a sudden, the bus halted to a stop and Miley looked around nervously. "What's going on?" she asked her mom.

"Miley, you can't just go parking tour buses behind buildings now," Tish laughed at her daughter. "We're getting a rental." Miley sighed in relief and grabbed her purse and makeup bag, along with her phone and followed her mom off of the bus. The rest of the gang got out as well and they all piled into a large SUV with tinted windows.

"Good thing you got ready earlier, huh?" Brandi asked her as Miley sat in the back seat with Noah and Braison doing her makeup.

"Uhh, yeah!" Miley said and pointed to her hair and then scanned her body all the way down to her sneakers. She was wearing a white "Music is Love" shirt and jeans with her black converse. Her hair was straight, which was a nice change every now and then from her normal curls.

After about half an hour of driving, they were finally in the city. It wasn't time for them to be there yet, so they made their driver go through the drive through at McDonald's so they could eat lunch. Miley wasn't really a Mickey D's kinda girl, but she got a salad.

When she was finished, she called Kevin to see where they were.

"Hello?" he answered.

"Hey, what's up?" Miley asked him enthusiastically.

"Umm, not much," he said nervously. Miley laughed at him.

"Is Nick like, right there?" she asked.

"Uhh, yeah?" Kevin said, almost as a question.

"Well walk away from him! I need to talk to you!" Miley demanded.

"I miss you too, Kaila," Kevin said uneasily.

"Oh, so you're going to pretend that I'm her?" Miley asked and Kevin pictured her with her arms crossed and foot tapping on the ground and halfway laughed at her.

"Yup," he said and laughed a little louder. Nick and Joe both turned around to look at him, and Kevin laughed even harder, knowing that they thought he was talking to Kaila.

"So where are you guys?" Miley asked when Kevin had calmed down.

"We're here. I'm getting ready to do Joe's hair," he told her and Joe looked at him.

"I can do my own hair!" Joe defended. "I just don't want to!"

"Whatever," Kevin said to Joe. "Anyway, where are you?"

"We are sitting in McDonald's parking lot. We needed to eat," she told him.

"Alright. We just did an interview and we go on in like, 30 minutes," Kevin told her.

"Oh my gosh! Okay, should I see him before or after?" Miley asked and Kevin looked nervously at his brothers who were still present.

"Either one," Kevin told her.

"But what do _you_ think?" she asked. Kevin stepped out of the room for a moment.

"I think you should get here, but stay hidden so he doesn't see you before. Call him, and let him know you are thinking of him, but don't let him see you. He needs to do this on his own," Kevin told her and Miley understood. Nick could do this, he just didn't want to.

"Okay. And then I'll see him afterwards?" Miley asked.

"That would be the best," Kevin told her and walked back into the room. Joe was making kissy faces at him and Nick was laughing at Joe. It was good to see him in a good mood. Miley heard him.

"He's laughing," she sighed and Kevin rolled his eyes.

"If you're gonna get all mushy on me, I'm gonna have to go," he teased with her.

"It's alright, I gotta go anyway," she told him. She thanked him for all of his help and told him she'd text him to let her in when she got there. They got off the phone and Kevin started to do Joe's hair.

"So you and Kaila are getting pretty serious, huh?" Nick asked. Kevin shrugged, nervously and confidently. He knew that Nick had no idea that he had actually been talking to _his_ girlfriend and not his own.

"I like her a lot," Kevin said in all honesty. "She doesn't demand anything out of me, which is nice since we're gone so much."

"Yeah. That's always good," Nick said, thinking about Miley.

"She's good for you," Kevin said, sensing his brother's sadness about missing his girlfriend.

"Yeah, I know, she's --" Nick started to say but then his phone rang. "Speak of the devil," he said before he answered the phone. "Hello?"

"Did he just call her a devil?" Joe asked Kevin as Kevin laughed.

"It's an expression," Kevin explained to it and Joe responded with a long drawn out "Ohhhhhhh."

Nick rolled his eyes at the two of them and walked out of the room.

"What's up?" he asked her, even though he knew she was just checking up on him.

"Just checking up on you," she said sweetly and he laughed.

"I'm glad you are _so_ concerned," he said sarcastically.

"Hey! I just want you to know I'm here for you," she said and he smiled.

"I know. You wrote me a song, remember?" he asked her.

"Yeah, yeah, I know."

"By the way, that song has to be on the Miley CD, not that Hannah stuff."

"What's wrong with Hannah?" she asked, pretending to get huffy with him.

"Nothing. But _Hannah_ didn't write it for me. Miley did," he explained.

"I guess. So you guys go on soon?" she asked him, even though she already knew.

"Yup, in about twenty minutes," Nick said and paused. "I'm scared."

"You have every right to be scared, Nick. But you don't need to be. You are going to be amazing and you know it. Deep down, you know you will," she told him.

"I wish you were here," he said softly and sighed.

"Just keep me in your heart and I'll appear," she said in a singing way. He chuckled at her.

"You always know what to say," he told her.

"I just say what I feel, Nick," Miley told him.

"I know you do. I miss you. I know I keep saying that, but I really do," Nick said.

"I miss you, too. You're usually not the sad one, though," she pointed out.

"I just really need you today," he said and sighed again.

"You need yourself. You are going to do just fine. I know _I_ keep saying _that_, but it's true. You are the one of the strongest people I know. You can do this."

"I can do this," he repeated.

"There ya go!" Miley said enthusiastically. This was killing her, not being able to be there for him like he needed. But truthfully, he didn't need her. He wanted her, but he just needed courage.

"I can do this," Nick said again, a little more sure of himself.

"You're going to be great!" Miley told him and they both paused for a moment. "I love you, Nick," she said. He paused for a moment as well, taking in her words.

"I love you, too, Miley. Thank you," he said and knew they were getting to the end of their conversation. "I'll call you after the show."

"Okay. Tell the boys I said hi!" she said.

"I will. Love you."

"Love you more."

"Bye."

"Tootles!"

Nick hung up the phone and returned to their dressing room. Joe's hair was done and Kevin was washing his hands in the sink. Nick walked over to the mini fridge to get a Diet Coke and watched Joe jump up and down, getting pumped up for the show.

"Should you really have that?" Joe asked Nick and pointed to the soda.

"Get off it, Joe," Nick said, jokingly of course. "What a perfect way to start off a concert for diabetes, but to use my Omni-pod?"

"I guess," Joe shrugged and threw his body on the ground to do a set of pushups. Nick would do that right before they went onstage.

"Have you though about what you are going to say?" Kevin asked his little brother.

"Not really. I decided that I'd just get up there and talk. What's the worst that could happen?" Nick asked, suddenly regretting not having scripted out a speech. His regrets were interrupted, however, by a 7 year old Frankie bounding through the door. "Frankie!" Nick cried out as the young boy jumped into Nick's lap, nearly knocking the soda out of his hand. "Mom?" he asked as his mother walked through the door.

"You didn't honestly think I was just going to sit in Jersey while you were here, did you?" she asked as she kissed Kevin on the cheek and rolled her eyes at Joe. "This is a big moment for you."

"Tell me about it," he said and got up to hug her.

"Five minutes on deck. Ten 'til show time!" a stagehand yelled in their door. Nick looked around nervously at his brothers and they all gave him encouraging looks. Nick smiled back at all of them and hugged his mom again.

"I love you," she said and kissed his forehead.

"Love you, too, Mom," Nick said and followed his brothers down the hallway and stood behind the stage. Nick, Joe, and Kevin all started jumping around and stretching before they were handed their guitars.

"Hey, I umm, forgot my, umm, thing, in the room," Kevin said and dashed back down the hallway.

"That was weird," Joe commented, but Nick ignored him, trying to stay focused.

Down the hall, Kevin let Miley and Brandi in the back door and gave them each a quick hug before dashing down the hallway again, the two girls on his heels. They were stopped by a security guard, but when Kevin told him the girls were with him, he let them go.

"I'm back!" Kevin said and both of his brothers turned around to look at him.

"What'd you forget?" Joe asked after Nick turned back around, shaking out his nerves.

"That," Kevin said and pointed to Miley and Brandi, whose heads were barely visible from behind the wall.

"What?" Joe asked loudly before Kevin punched him. The girls laughed.

"Don't you dare say a word!" Kevin threatened and Joe quickly waved to them and turned back around.

"Everybody, please help me welcome, THE JONAS BROTHERS!" said the guy on stage and the crowd went crazy. They did a quick campfire with their band and their band ran out stage.

"You've got this," Joe said as softly as he could but still be heard as he put an arm around Nick's shoulders. Nick looked up at him and nodded with a smile. Joe could be an idiot sometimes, but he knew when to be there for his brothers.

"Let's do this!" yelled Kevin and one after the other, the Jonas brothers ran onto the stage.

After a few songs, Nick finally got up to speak. He started it off like any other 'in-between-songs-talk-to-the-fans' speech, but quickly turned to his story.

"So real quick, how many of you people, or kids, out there have diabetes; raise your hand. I see a couple of you guys out there. Let me see those hands, put 'em up," he said into the mic and let a few people raise their hands before raising his own. Miley watched him from offstage and began to tear up as he raised his hand. She didn't know it at the time, but she had helped him raise it.

Brandi put her arm around Miley as Nick started his story.

"A little over a year ago, we were on the road touring, on this school tour some of you might know," Nick said and the crowd screamed. He laughed. HE LAUGHED! He was going to be fine. "Some crazy stuff started happening. I started losing weight, I started, uhh, drinking a lot of water all the time, and just having a really bad attitude; it just wasn't me," he said. He continued to tell his story. "I found out I had diabetes; type 1."

Kevin and Joe shared a knowing look, about how much Nick changed in just those few weeks before they had all found out. They remembered the yelling and the fighting. They remembered their parents taking him to the doctor. They remembered finding out and being so scared for their little brother.

"I really had no idea what it was. The first thing I asked was 'am I going to die?' and the doctor said, 'no, you'll be fine, but you'll have to go to the hospital for a couple of days,'" Nick told the crowd. He talked about checking his blood sugar 12 times a day, taking the insulin shots, and finally getting his Omni-pod. "At the beginning, I was asking myself, 'why me?' And then I started asking myself, 'why not me?' I get to be here today telling all you guys that through all that, I still made it through, and here I am today, singing and having fun."

As Nick was wrapping up, Joe looked over to Miley and saw Brandi holding her up. Miley was sobbing with tear stains all down her face. He looked behind her and saw his mom, who also was crying. His dad's eyes were red. This was a big moment, not just for Nick, but for everyone around him. Joe saw all of those people crying and choked back a few sobs himself, of course unbeknownst to the fans. What none of them knew was that he had spent more than an hour in the bathroom crying for his little brother that morning before everyone was up, writing him a song.

They played "Time for Me to Fly" and "I Am What I Am" and thanked everyone for coming out to support Dlife and everyone who participated. Kevin ran off the stage first, Joe second and Nick last. They ran all the way to their dressing room, still pumped from the show and out of breath.

"Man! That was so awesome!" Nick yelled, jumping up and down a little.

"I couldn't have said it better myself," Kevin said as he placed both of his hands on Nick's shoulders to calm him down before walking over and getting a bottle of water.

"You did great, little man," Joe said and patted him on the shoulder and ruffled his hair.

"I'm very proud of you," Kevin Sr. told him and put an arm around him.

"I just can't believe that I really did it," Nick said with wide eyes and a huge grin on his face. "I really did it."

"You sure did," Denise said and kissed his head. The Jonas clan sat around for a few minutes, reliving the concert and Nick's speech.

"Miley!" Nick halfway yelled and pulled out his phone. "I have to call Miley and tell her!" he said and got up and walked to the other side of the room. He paced back and forth as he waited for her to pick up. Joe and Kevin passed a glance at each other and their mother smiled.

"Hello?" she finally said when she picked up.

"Miles!" he yelled into the phone and she laughed at him. So did his family. "Oh my gosh, the concert was awesome!"

"That's great, Nick! I told you you'd be fine," she told him.

"I know you did. Thank you," he said, a little more calmly. "The fans took it really well, I think. I guess we'll find out soon enough, though. I'm sure the video will be all over YouTube in the next few days."

"I'm sure. And I'm sure that your fans will only love you more. Just like I do," Miley said.

"I wish you could have seen it," he said and Joe and Kevin tried hard to keep their laughter back.

"I wish I could have been there, too," she said.

"It's hot in here," Kevin said and opened the door to their dressing room. Nick looked at him strangely, but ignored him and went back to focusing on Miley.

"I mean it; I really want to see you. I miss you," he said quietly, although he knew that his family could hear him. At this point, though, he really didn't care.

"When I can't be with you dream me near," she sang to him on the phone. He smiled. "Keep me in your heart and I'll appear," Miley continued. Her voice sounded strange. Almost like there was an echo. "All you gotta do is turn around, close your eyes, look inside," he heard her sing. She sounded so close. He turned around and saw her standing in the doorway. "I'm right here," she said, not sang, as she closed her phone.

His eyes got wide and his phone dropped from his hand and luckily landed on the couch. He ran over to her and picked her up, held her tight, and spun her around.

"Miley," she breathed into her hair. He stopped spinning her and put her down. "What are you doing here?" he practically shouted as he smiled wide.

"I'm here to see you, silly!" she said and playfully smacked him on the chest. He leaned in and kissed her, before she quickly pulled away from him and looked past him at his family. Nick blushed and tightly closed his eyes. When he opened them, Miley was staring back at him, giggling. He hugged her again and whispered into her ear.

"I've missed you so much," Nick said and just held her.

"I've missed you, too, baby," Miley whispered back as she ran her fingers through his curls. Just then, he saw Brandi slip in the door and walk past the two of them and over to what he assumed was where his family was. He waved a small wave, but concentrated on Miley.

"When do you go back?" he asked her, not wanting to hear the answer. "We're staying here for the night."

"We are leaving right away. I have a promotional thing I have to do in West Virginia tomorrow afternoon," she sadly told her.

"No," he softly pleaded to her, even though he knew she didn't have a choice.

"Nick," she whined to him, not wanting him to make her sad.

"I'm sorry," he apologized to her. "So how long have you been here?"

"Funny story," she laughed and pointed to Kevin. "He let me in right before the show started."

"That's what you left in the room?" Nick turned around to ask his brother. Kevin nodded and smiled. "Nice."

He turned back to Miley and smiled to her. She smiled back and swayed back and forth a little.

"You really did amazing. I cried while you were talking," she told him.

"Aww, babe," Nick said and brushed her bangs out of her face.

"No, they were happy tears. I'm just so happy that you finally told everyone. You're so brave," she said.

"Oh yeah, you know me, flippin' Braveheart," he joked and rolled his eyes.

"My hero!" Miley over dramatized and put a hand on her forehead and pretended to faint. Everybody laughed and they suddenly remembered that they weren't alone; and were in the spotlight. Their eyes narrowed on each other and Miley mouthed to him, "I love you."

He mouthed back, "I love you, too. I'm so glad you're here," and grabbed her into another hug. What he thought was going to be one of the worst days of his life, actually turned out to be the best.

--

Okay, so if any of you haven't seen Nick's speech at the D-life concert, you really should go to YouTube and check it out. It's amazing and the first time I watched it, I literally cried. I feel like my writing is getting worse; it's really not the quality that I had hoped for. I'm really going to try harder to fix that in the future, I promise.

And I just realized that throughout all of my chapters, I've never said that I don't own anything. Well, here's my disclaimer. As much as I would love to, unfortunately I don't. So yeah, I don't own anything.

Alright, question time! Okay, so which one of the Jonas brothers will go solo first (not including Frankie!)? I've been wondering this for awhile. I mean, will one go solo at all, and if so, which one? Thanks as always guys and remember to review! Love you!


	21. Chapter 21

April 1, 2007

After Miley left New York, she played a few more dates in the states and then headed off to London for a week. She had a DVD signing for a special of _Hannah Montana_ and her and the Cheetah Girls were playing a few shows in Europe. From there, she went to Disneyland Paris to help Mickey and the gang celebrate the 15th Anniversary with a concert and a meet and greet.

The boys had been busy as well. They had back to back tour dates of getting to the venue, playing their show, getting on the bus to sleep, driving to where ever they were playing next, and playing another show. It was hectic, but they loved it. On March 26th, they attended the _Meet the Robinson's_ Premier in Hollywood, which was quite exciting.

Because of their hectic schedules, neither Miley nor the Jonas Brothers were able to attend the Kid's Choice Awards, but Miley and Nick each watched from their separate locations, on the phone, and commented on everyone's clothes and hair and who should have won what. They weren't even on the same continent and they acted like they were sitting side by side. Kevin and Joe were glad that Nick was happy, but it was just sickening at points.

This morning, Miley got on a plane to come back to the states, where she would pick up the last few dates of the tour. Because of the time difference, it was 9 in the morning when she got off the plane with her Mom and her tour-mates. (Her siblings didn't go.) She called Nick and he didn't answer. He had been doing that a lot; not answering the phone, but she just figured that he was busy and she left a voicemail and carried on about her business for the morning.

It was 3 in the afternoon when Miley woke up from her nap. Nick still hadn't called her. She was starting to wonder what he was up to and called him again. Once again, he didn't answer. She decided to call Kevin, who always answered his phone, to see if they were just busy or what, but he didn't answer either. Neither did Joe. What was going on?

Finally, around dinner time, Joe called her.

"Miley?" he asked timidly.

"Yes?" she asked, wondering why he sounded the way he did.

"Umm, there was an accident," he started to say and Miley could already feel the lump in her throat growing.

"What-wha-what kind of accident?" Miley asked with her hoarse voice.

"Well, we were doing a sound check, and Nick was playing," Joe began and then paused.

"And?" she asked, tears forming in her eyes.

"He was playing so hard that his huge arm muscles actually exploded. I'm sorry," he said solemnly before he started cracking up laughing. Miley didn't say a word. She couldn't believe that Joe would do something like that. She was tired from her flight, even after her nap, and in no mood for Joe's antics.

"Put Nick on the phone, now," Miley finally demanded and a few seconds later, Nick was on the line.

"Hey baby, April fools!" Nick laughed into the phone. Miley wasn't laughing.

"That wasn't funny, Nick," Miley informed him. "I thought something really happened to you."

"I'm sorry. It was Joe's idea. But come on, it's funny, right?" he said, still chuckling to himself.

"No, it's not. Nick. You didn't answer my calls at all today. Why?" she asked him.

"We were just busy with stuff. Driving," he told her.

"Nick. I haven't seen you in like two weeks! The least you could do is want to speak to me!" she said, raising her voice a little.

"Miles, calm down," he said, realizing she really was upset about this. "I'm sorry, okay. I didn't realize it'd be this big of a deal."

"It's just inconsiderate, Nick. How would you have felt if Brandi called you and told you what Joe told me?" she asked.

"I don't know. It's situational, I guess," Nick responded timidly. He knew he was in big trouble. "So how was your flight?"

"Fine. Just fine," she stated angrily.

"Miley! What do you want me to do? I said I was sorry!" he said, knowing she wasn't going to let it go.

"I don't know, Nick. I guess I just want you to care more," she said, sighing.

"Care more?" he asked her, raising his voice, but not yelling. "Care more? Miley, I don't think it's possible for anyone to care more about someone than I do for you! You've got to be kidding me!"

"I'm sure you _think_ you care about me, and _maybe_ you do, but you need to show it better," she told him.

"Oh my God, Miley!" he said loudly. Now she knew he was mad; he'd never say "God" like that unless he was really upset. "Show it? What do you want me to do? Get on a plane and fly to your show tomorrow night? Because I can't do that!"

"I don't expect you to. Just answer your phone when I call!" she yelled at him.

"Miley," he said, trying to calm down, "I was busy. And I'm talking to you right now. It's not like I wasn't thinking about you. I just can't be on the phone 24/7."

"I have to go," she finally said, unemotional in her tone.

"Miles, come on, don't do this," he somewhat begged with her.

"I have to go eat. I'll talk to you later," she said and didn't wait for a response before she hung up the phone.

She slid down on the couch on the bus and turned on the TV. Her mom walked out into the living room, and had heard everything. She put an arm around Miley and Miley leaned into her and started to cry.

"What's wrong with me?" Miley sobbed.

"Nothing, baby. You're just stressed out. Tomorrow will be better," Tish told her.

"I hope so," Miley responded softly.

--

"What was that about?" Joe asked as Nick got off the phone. Nick rarely raised his voice, and certainly not towards his girlfriend.

"This is all _your_ fault, ya know," Nick said, pushing past his brother and into the hallway to his bunk. He didn't even look at Kevin who was sitting on the couch, watching the whole scene.

"What's my fault?" Joe asked. Nick spun around and faced Joe, an angry look on his face.

"I don't know what her deal is, but you started all of this. You told me it'd be funny," Nick said.

"It was funny," Joe responded and Nick gave him a death glare. "If looks could kill!" he said and laughed a little.

"You'd be six feet under," Nick told him and got into his bunk and closed the curtain. He looked over to the picture once again, like he did so many times a day, and wondered what was wrong with them? Was he _not_ showing her how much he cared? Was he a bad boyfriend because he couldn't do things like fly to see her? What was going on?

In the living room, Kevin decided he needed to make a phone call. He stepped into the back of the bus and shut the door. He dialed her number, and prayed that she would pick up. She did.

"Hello?" she answered, her voice a wreck. She had obviously been crying.

"Hey, Miley," Kevin started.

"Look, if you are going to put Nick on the phone, I'm _not_ talking to him right now," she flatly told him.

"No. He doesn't even know I'm calling you. I just wanted to let you know some things about him," Kevin said, waiting for Miley to respond.

"Okay, go," she finally said.

"Nick cares about you so much. I've never seen him so happy before. I've also never seen him so upset before over a girl. You do crazy things to him, but it's good. Nick doesn't like talking on the phone. He rarely will even answer when Joe or I call him. He is just really bad about all of it," Kevin explained to Miley.

"But he always _used_ to answer or at least call me back," she told her boyfriend's older brother.

"I guess he didn't want you to think that he didn't want to talk to you. And it's not that he doesn't want to, he's just really bad about getting back to people. Nick has few flaws, but that's definitely one of them," Kevin told her.

"But I'm his _girlfriend_. He should _want_ to talk to me," she said.

"He does, just not all the time. He's busy and sometimes he just needs some down time," he said. Miley nodded understandingly, even though Kevin couldn't see her.

"I guess," she said after a few moments. After a long pause, she started again. "Thanks for calling me, Kev."

"Sure thing. You guys just need to talk about all of this, that's all," he told her.

"I know. Tell him to call me tomorrow. And make him," Miley said, laughing a little at the end.

"I'll do my best," Kevin replied. They got off the phone shortly after and Kevin went back out to the living room. Nick wasn't asleep, the light in his bunk was still on. For a moment, Kevin thought about telling Nick to call Miley, but he knew they both needed time to cool off and think about everything.

--

April 3, 2007

Nick did call Miley the next day, without Kevin's asking him to, even. They both apologized and Nick told her he'd try to answer more and Miley told him that she'd try to be more understanding. Miley didn't tell Nick about her and Kevin's conversation the night before. There wasn't really a need to.

Miley's brother and sisters joined her again on tour right after she got back, and it was nice to have more people in the bus. It helped to keep her busy. They had stopped for lunch earlier and gotten gas, so Miley and Brandi filled up on magazines and stuff to do on the bus. That was a mistake.

"Look at this!" Miley yelled, pointing to an image on the page and practically throwing the magazine in Brandi's face.

"What?" Brandi asked, looking up from her Alternative Press. "Miley, it's just a magazine!" she said, finally focusing on the image her sister was pointing to. It was an image of Nick and another girl, someone not famous. They were walking down the sidewalk, along with Joe, probably somewhere in New York, it looked like. Nick and this girl were standing awfully close together. The caption read "Nick in Love? Who's the new girl?"

"I don't even know who that is!" Miley yelled.

"Then what's the big deal?" Brandi asked, not catching onto her sister's logic.

"It's someone he's hiding from me," Miley stated. Brandi giggled at her a little.

"Look, it's probably in New York, look at the buildings. Maybe it was a fan from the charity thing? Or maybe a friend from Jersey that he hadn't seen in awhile?" Brandi suggested.

"But why are they standing so close?" Miley whined.

"It's probably just the time the picture was taken, they were probably talking or something. Miles, quite freaking out!"

"I just, I don't want, and I guess, and he's just," she stuttered out. "I miss him."

"I know you do. And I'm sorry I can't do anything about it," Brandi told her, putting a hand on her leg.

After awhile, they arrived at their venue and Miley got on the internet to check her email. She couldn't help herself and typed in Nick's name to YouTube. When she first met him, there weren't many videos of him, but especially in the last few months, it seemed that everyone had gone Jonas crazy. "Hello Beautiful?" she asked herself when she saw a live recording of the song. She clicked on it and watched Nick sing _her_ song to another girl. _HER _song! The nerve!

"Brandi!" Miley called.

"What's up?" Brandi asked and sat down.

"Look!" Miley said sadly and shoved the laptop at Brandi. The second she started the video, she already knew what she was going to see.

"Miles, come on. It's a great song. You didn't think that they weren't going to put it on their record? That means they have to play it at shows," Brandi pointed out. Miley sighed.

"But he's singing to **her**!" she shrieked. Brandi rolled her eyes and went back to her magazine. Miley had been acting strange about Nick for awhile. She didn't think that he was cheating on her, but she didn't like that he was spending time with other girls! She wasn't spending time with other guys. Other than her dancers, of course.

"Hello?" Miley answered the phone. Perfect timing.

"Hey, what's up?" Nick asked her.

"Oh, nothing," she said sarcastically. "Just on YouTube."

"Find anything interesting?" Nick asked her and chucked a little.

"Sure did," she said intensely. Nick didn't pick up on it.

"Oh yeah? What's that?" he asked.

"Oh, just a video of a certain _boyfriend_ of mine _singing_ to another girl," Miley said, the venom starting to drip from her fangs. Nick took in a breath and let it out.

"Miley. Don't start this now. You know that's part of my job," he started to say but she cut him off.

"I don't think that singing directly to one girl, singing _my_ song, is in your job description," she threw at him.

"Miley, I write you songs all the time. They are going to be on the record. That's what I do. When you write about me, you want it to make it to the record, right?" he asked her.

"Yes, but I'm not going to sing to some boy!" she yelled.

"Seriously? How many guys come to your concerts?" Nick halfway laughed. Miley didn't.

"Whatever. I still wouldn't," she told him.

"Okay, fine. I'm sorry. I'll just quit my job and come on the road with you," he told her.

"Nick, stop it," she said.

"No, you stop. I don't know what's up with you lately, but it's really annoying."

"Oh, so now I'm annoying?"

"No, I said you were acting that way lately. Miley, what's wrong?"

"I don't know. I don't like being away from you for this long."

"I don't like it either, but we both knew getting into this that it was going to happen."

"It's just not fair. These other girls get to spend time with you, but I'm your girlfriend and I don't."

"Miley, come on, we'll have some time when I get home," he told her.

"But then you'll leave again. Nick, this isn't any way to have a relationship," she said.

"What are you saying?"

"I don't know."

"Do you think we should break up?" Nick asked her, his voice shaking a little.

"I don't know, Nick. I think we really need to think about all of this," Miley told him. She didn't want to break up, but this was really hard, having such a long distance relationship.

"You call me when you figure out what you want," he said. He tried not to be cold about it, but he was hurt.

"And you can let me know what you think," she said.

"I know what I think. I think this is ridiculous. I love you, Miley. And I know you love me. If we feel that way, we should be together," he said, his voice raising a little.

"But Nick, we can't be together! I'm all over the place all the time and so are you!" she pointed out. He knew she was right, but he still didn't want this to end.

"You call me when you're ready," he paused and took in a sharp breath, "I love you," he said softly and hung up the phone. Miley didn't get a chance to respond.

"That went well," Brandi said, still flipping through the pages of her magazine.

"Shut up!" Miley yelled at her and tried to focus on her inbox on her computer screen, but couldn't see a thing from the tears falling down her face. What a way to start off a concert.

--

"I just don't understand!" Nick said loudly as he paced the bus. Joe, Kevin and Garbo were all sitting on the couch, watching him.

"She's a girl. You'll never understand," Joe pointed out.

"And you didn't do anything wrong, Nick. You both knew going into this that you were going to have to be away from each other," Kevin told him. Nick nodded in agreement.

"And she probably doesn't want to break up, either. She's just upset and misses you," Garbo told him. He was a big softy at heart.

"Probably," Nick said and nodded again. He ran a hand through his curls and sighed loudly.

"Are we anywhere close to them, so you could surprise her?" Kevin suggested.

"Already thought about that. We're in Washington. She's in Georgia. I doubt it," Nick said, continuing to pace.

"You should send her flowers," Joe suggested.

"Right. 'Umm, yeah, could you send these to a bus that rarely stops? The license plate is…'. I don't think so Joe," Nick said a little annoyed. Not at Joe, but just in general.

"Okay, fine. Just trying to help," Joe said and held his hands up.

"It's fine. But what am I going to do?" Nick asked as he flung himself onto the floor. He lied on his back and looked up at the top of the bus.

"You've got to let her do what she wants to do, Nick," Garbo told him.

"What?" Nick asked, confused by what he meant.

"He's right. Miley's got to do this on her own. She's the one that has to decide. You need to let her know that you're on her side, and whatever she wants is what you want, because you just want her to be happy, and she's not happy right now," Kevin explained.

"I guess so. I just care about her so much. I don't want to just sit around and let her feel like crap," Nick said, sitting up.

"I know you don't, but Miley's strong. And she'll come back," Kevin told him.

"I hope so," Nick said as he lied back down and closed his eyes. The rumble of the bus made his whole body shake, but he didn't care.

--

April 6, 2007

Miley and Nick hadn't spoken since their fight three days earlier. There was an occasional text message, but nothing serious. Miley missed talking to him, but she really needed time to think about all of this. Miley needed to call the one person who would know just what to say.

"Hello?" a man answered on the other line.

"Daddy?" she asked quietly.

"Darlin', what's wrong?" he asked her, immediately knowing she was upset.

"I don't know what to do," Miley said, almost in tears just thinking about the situation.

"Miley, talk to me," Billy Ray said, even though he knew what was going on. Tish and him talked every night.

"I miss Nick a lot, Daddy, but it's so hard being away from him all the time. He'll only be home for a little bit before he goes back on tour for the summer, and I can't be away from him for that long. I'm getting jealous and I don't want to be. I love him, Daddy, but it's so hard," Miley spilled out.

"Honey, I know how hard it is being away from the ones you love," he told her. He was at home now, by himself, recording his new album, but he was on the road a lot when Miley and her younger siblings were growing up. He knew exactly how she felt.

"How did you handle it?" she asked him.

"Miles, it's a little different. I had a wife and kids waiting for me at home. Now I'm not saying that you don't love Nick, but you're only 15. You're not married, and you don't have to pretend to be. You are unhappy, and I hate it when you are unhappy, bud," he said.

"I know you do. And I think I know what I'm going to do now," she said, smiling a little to herself.

"Good. And Miley?" he asked.

"Yeah?" she asked back.

"I love you, Darlin'. And you'll be just fine, whatever you decide to do. You are a lot stronger than you think. You just need to _choose_ to be that way. He'll understand either way."

"I love you, too, Daddy. And thanks."

"Anytime, baby girl, anytime," Billy Ray said and hung up the phone.

Miley knew that she needed to call Nick. And soon. She paced around the bus for awhile. They had stopped and her siblings were off the bus, doing who knows what. Miley looked out the window and saw a park where everyone was. She decided to get off the bus and get some fresh air.

She walked down the stairs of the bus and her lungs breathed in the sweet smell of cut grass and early morning dew. She walked around for awhile, pretty aimlessly. She waved to her family, but they didn't bother her; Tish and Brandi kept Noah away from her, because they knew she needed to be alone for awhile. However, she didn't have much time to figure out what she was going to say, because just then, he called her.

"Hello?" she answered, nervously. She wasn't ready for this.

"Hey," Nick timidly said. "How are you?"

"I'm okay, I guess," she said unconvincingly.

"I know I told you to call me, but Miley, this is ridiculous," he said bluntly.

"I know, and I'm sorry. I was actually just thinking about calling you," she told him honestly.

"And?" he asked in a demanding voice. He was upset about the whole situation and he didn't want to be mean to her, but he was tired of this.

"I think you already know the answer," Miley said slowly, almost regretting coming to this decision.

"I've known since you brought it up 3 days ago," Nick said, mostly to himself. He sighed, "so this is it, huh?"

"No, it's not 'it'," she told him. "We can still be friends. Best friends. You _are_ my best friend and I don't want to lose that. I just think we are too busy for a relationship right now."

"Alright. Just friends," he said, remembering the song he wrote.

"Just friends," she repeated, unaware of the significance.

"Okay, well I guess I'll talk to you sometime," he said, hurt in his voice.

"Nick, don't be upset with me. I'm just doing what I think is best," she tried to explain to him.

"Miley, if you think that this is what's best then--" he started to say, but stopped himself. "No, you know what, this is what's best. If this is what you want, then, well, you've got it."

"I'm sorry," she apologized.

"There's no need. I'll talk to you later," he said coldly and hung up the phone. After a moment of realizing he was no longer on the line, she closed her phone as well. A single tear rolled down her cheek and she quickly brushed it away. She had already cried so much over this boy, even just today, and she wanted to have some fun. She shoved her phone into her pocket and ran over to her family. Somehow, Tish knew what had happened and hugged her daughter.

"You alright?" she asked, just loud enough so Miley heard her.

"Yeah. I think I am," Miley replied and took off and tackled Braison to the ground and laughed. She hadn't laughed like that in awhile and Tish was glad to have her Smiley back. Miley was glad to be back, as well.

--

"You okay?" Kevin asked Nick as he got off the phone with Miley.

"I knew what she was going to say," Nick replied, staring at the floor.

"Of course you did. She's your best friend. Don't let this change that," Kevin told his younger brother.

"How can it not? Kev, I love her. Normally, you aren't in love with your best friend," Nick told him, still not looking up.

"But it happens. I'm not saying forget about all the time you guys had together, but don't bring it up with her anymore. It'll be hard, for sure, but you can do it," Kevin said.

"I can, I just don't want to. It wasn't supposed to be this way," Nick said, looking up at Kevin, his face red from trying to hold back the tears.

"Nothing is ever what it seems, Nicky," Kevin said to Nick and sat down next to him, putting an arm around his shoulder.

"It sure isn't," Nick said softly and rested his head on Kevin as he let a few tears fall. Kevin gave him a strong side hug and just stayed with him. "I need to go lay down," Nick finally said, standing up.

"Get some sleep. We've got a big show tonight," Kevin told him.

"That's all we ever have are big shows, Kev," Nick said half jokingly. He smiled slightly and Kevin smiled back at him. Kevin knew that Nick was going to be fine. He just needed some time to analyze all of it. But he was going to be fine.

--

**Please Read!!**

Hey guys! Sorry it's been another week since I updated…I'm really trying to crank them out, but it's getting tough with school and stuff (which sucks by the way). I just want to thank all of you so much for reading and keeping up with me…I know it's got to be hard sometimes.

I'm sorry I had to have them break up, but it'll work out in the end, you guys should know this…it is a Niley, after all. It's only temporary, but very needed. You'll see why in the next few chapters. I'll be including a lot more JB stuff in the next chapter…it will be mostly Nick and the boys, so look forward to that! But seriously, don't kill me for breaking them up…they'll be together soon…but not without a little drama and some songwriting.

Question for this chapter: Are you going to be watching the Country Music Awards thing on CMT tonight? And would you still watch it if Miley and Billy Ray weren't hosting? (I'm not making fun of anyone…I'd watch it even if she wasn't, but I'm super pumped that she is!)

Thanks as always guys! And I love reviews! Let me know what your favorite parts were, please! It helps me to know what my readers like and don't like…and what I should put in upcoming chapters! Love you!


	22. Chapter 22

April 7, 2007

April 7, 2007

Miley and Nick hadn't talked the rest of yesterday or yet today and it was already dark in Illinois, where the boys were. Surprisingly, Nick was okay with it. He was getting back to connecting with his brothers, which had been second for quite awhile. They were doing the crazy things that they used to do all the time and just hanging out and being boys.

"Joe, would you rather eat a live goldfish, or one that's been dead for a week?" Garbo asked.

"Umm, probably a live one. If it's alive, that probably means that it's healthy, so I'd go with the live one," Joe said like it was a super-intellectual answer that he just gave.

"That's gross," Nick said and turned to Kevin. "Kev, would you rather…have each one of your toenails removed one by one, or have your eyelashes plucked out one by one?"

"Oh jeeze, there's not really a good answer for that. I'll go with the toenails, though. Can't mess up the package," Kevin joked and made a motion to his face. They all laughed.

"Nick! You're phone's ringing!" Kevin Sr. yelled from the other end of the bus, where Nick had left his phone. Nick got up and grabbed it. He looked at the screen questioningly and his brothers looked at him with the same face. He mouthed "Miley" as he hit the button to answer.

"Hello?" he asked, not sure what was going on.

"Hey, what's up?" Miley said, in a rather chipper mood.

"Umm, nothing really, just hanging out with the guys in the bus," he replied, the boys still looking at him strangely.

"That's cool. I just wanted to say hey!" she said.

"Oh, well, hey!" Nick said and half-smiled a little, still unsure of why she had called.

"Okay, well that's it. I'll let you go," she told him.

"Umm, alright. Bye!" he said.

"Love you! Tootles!" she said into the phone.

"What did you say?" he asked her, unsure if he had heard her correctly.

"Umm, tootles?" she said, laughing a little.

"Before that?" Nick questioned.

"Love you?" Miley said nervously.

"Miles, you can't, I mean, we can't do that anymore," he said seriously. He could just picture her pouting on the other line.

"But I _do _still love you," she tried to reason with him.

"And I love you, too," he said quietly and his brothers looked at him even more strangely now, "but we are just friends now."

"But, Nick," she started to say.

"No, Miley. I'm sorry," he said. They argued for a moment about it, but she knew she wasn't going to win and gave up fairly quickly.

"I'm sorry. I'll talk to you later," she finally said.

"Yeah, talk to you later. Bye," he said.

"Bye," she replied. They hung up and Joe, Kevin, and Garbo were looking at Nick like he was crazy.

"Don't ask," Nick said coolly and held a hand up. They weren't going to give up that easily.

"Seriously? Don't ask? Who do you think we are?" Joe asked him, looking at his brother for an answer.

"She told me she loved me," Nick said. All of their eyes got wide as the looked at him.

"And?" Garbo asked.

"And I told her we couldn't say that anymore," Nick said plainly.

"What'd she say?" Kevin asked.

"You guys know what happened. I told her we couldn't say that and she got all emotional about it," Nick said, trying to make light of the situation that was killing him inside.

"Psh! Girls!" Joe said and waved his hand in the air. "AJ tried doing the same thing. I had to put her in her place."

"By crying in your room for three days?" Kevin asked him as he laughed a little. Joe gave him a look that said 'if-I-wouldn't-get-caught-I'd-kill-you'.

"Shut up," Joe said quietly and turned the tables on Kevin. "What about you and Kaila?" he spat out.

"What about us?" Kevin asked.

"I'm sure you guys are dysfunctional," Joe said.

"Actually, we are quite happy, Joseph," Kevin told him, "I miss her, but we're getting through it. She's in school, so she's got stuff to keep her busy."

"Whatever," Joe said, a little anger in his voice. "So what are you going to do about Miley?" he asked Nick.

"I don't know. I mean, what is she trying to pull here? I'm just so tired of her games. I never thought she'd actually break my heart, but she's pretty good at surprising me," Nick said solemnly.

"Girls are pretty complicated," Garbo piped in.

"It's just so hard to tell what she wants anymore! It's like, she misses me, but wants to fight, and then she loves me, but she breaks up with me. What is that?" Nick halfway yelled. He was getting frustrated.

"Miley's just gotta figure some stuff out, little man," Kevin told Nick, "she'll come around."

"She better," Joe said. They all turned to look at him.

"Why do you care?" Nick asked.

"Because. She broke my little brother's heart. I don't deal with that very well," Joe said, looking at Kevin and raising an eyebrow.

"No kidding," Kevin replied, rolling his eyes and thinking about how Joe hated all of Kevin's ex-girlfriends as well.

"Whatever. I'm over it," Nick said, shaking his head and heading over to his iPod. He stuck the tiny speakers in his ears and closed his eyes as he tuned out the rest of the world with a little Stevie Wonder.

--

April 9, 2007

"Good morning, sweetie," Denise said as she woke up her second eldest child. Joe stirred and groaned and if she hadn't moved, he would have hit her when he flung his arm out. Joe certainly was not a morning person, at least while they were on tour.

The Jonas's were in Washington D.C. this morning for the White House Easter Egg Roll. They had gotten a hotel room and Denise and Frankie had come up to stay with them.

"Get up!" Kevin yelled at Joe and threw a pillow at his head. "Either your hair will look like crap or we will be late." That got Joe out of bed rather quickly as he dashed for the shower.

Denise was already ready, as was Nick. Kevin was doing his hair and Kevin Sr. was trying to get everything in order for the day. Denise was getting Frankie ready. Nick was on the bed, playing his guitar, notebook to his side.

"Whatcha writin'?" Kevin asked him. Nick looked up at him and smiled.

"You'll see later," Nick remarked and went back to the rhythm he was playing. The smile had been forced, Kevin could tell. Oh, just another song about Miley, more than likely. At least they were going to be spending some time apart for awhile. It would be good for them not to see each other.

"Hair time!" Joe yelled as he stepped out of the bathroom in the same shorts he had slept in and his shirt in his hand.

"How about you put a shirt on first so you don't mess it up later?" Kevin suggested and Joe shrugged and agreed as he went over to his small suitcase and pulled out a nice button down and a white undershirt. He put them on and Kevin started to do his hair.

"Come on boys, let's hurry it up. Church is in half an hour and then to breakfast at the White House," Kevin Sr. informed them.

"I'm ready!" Frankie exclaimed. They all smiled at him.

"Yes you are, young man. Now come sit down with me so you don't get all messy," Denise said and sat back on the bed with her youngest son and turned on cartoons to keep him busy.

About ten minutes later, they were all dressed and ready and headed downstairs to the SUV that was waiting for them outside. They all had to walk as fast as they could past the paparazzi and jumped into the vehicle and the driver took off for the church. They were a few minutes early, which was surprising to the boys parents, considering that they never seemed to be on time for anything.

The service went well and although the first ten minutes were a bit awkward for the boys with all the girls staring at them, the rest of the service went without interruptions or many crazy stares. Afterwards, they got back into the SUV and headed to the White House! The WHITE HOUSE!

They had to switch vehicles as they got closer and they were also searched before they got into the new car and searched again when they got out before being led in the back door of the White House. The table was set for around 60, maybe 70, at the large table in the dining room. The President sat at one end of the table, Laura to his right and his daughters to his left, along with their boyfriends. The President's extended family sat on that end as well. Some celebrities sat next, among them were the Jonas Brothers and their family. Promoters and sponsors were there as well.

After breakfast, everyone shuffled outside to the front lawn. The kids were all lined up, ready to take off and find their eggs. The President made a small speech, as well as the first lady, and a few sponsors spoke, too.

"Now before we start, I'd like us all to take off our hats and face the flag of the United States of America while our surprise guest sings the National Anthem," said some guy named Darren, who had given a lot of money to the event. "Everyone put your hands together for…"

"I bet its Jessica Alba," Joe whispered to Nick as Darren was speaking

"She doesn't sing," Nick pointed out and Joe rolled his eyes.

"Miss Miley Cyrus!" Darren yelled and all the girls in their little Easter dresses started screaming. Joe and Kevin looked at each other with horrified looks and quickly turned to Nick. His eyes were as big as the moon and he was pale. Kevin placed a hand on Nick's shoulder to help keep him balanced as they all watched Miley step out of the doors on the second floor onto the balcony.

"Thank you, thank you," she said into the microphone and she waved to her fans. "I just wanted to come and wish everyone a Happy Easter!"

The girls went crazy again, and even a few little boys did, too.

"If everyone would please place their hands over the hearts and gentlemen, remove your hats," Miley said and paused. Then she began to sing. Her voice was so pure and amazing. Nick couldn't take his eyes off of her. But before he knew it, she was done singing and returned back into the building.

Nick looked for her to come out and join the rest of them, but she never did. Even as they were leaving, after all the days festivities, he looked for her.

"She's not here," Joe said quietly to Nick.

"I know," Nick said, disappointingly. Why had she come today? Did she know he was going to be there or was it a coincidence? Doubtful, but possible.

They got into the car and drove away from the White House. It sure had been a crazy day. They were going to be in Jersey for the next few days, thankfully, though, so that would be good. They'd be playing 2 shows there and getting to stay home for 4 days to relax at their old house for awhile.

--

April 11, 2007

"Come on, Nick, just try!" Joe pleaded with his younger brother.

"I'm not ready!" Nick told Joe forcefully and tried to walk away. Joe grabbed his arm and looked at him.

"Come on! For me?" Joe pleaded and stuck out his bottom lip and made it quiver a little. Nick sighed loudly and hung his head.

"Fine. But this is the only time!" Nick said and went up to his old room to change. Joe had planned a little get together with an old friend of his, that just happened to be a girl, who he was interested in, and she had invited her friend to come along as well. Joe then had to ask a friend, and who better to double date with than his own brother?

2 hours later, Nick and Joe were waiting at the restaurant for their dates. They had gotten there early, to make sure they got a private table at one of their favorite restaurants. Nick's leg shook nervously under the table and he fidgeted with his napkin.

"Dude, you alright?" Joe asked, looking at his brother with concern.

"Yeah, fine, fine, why?" Nick asked quickly.

"Stop!" Joe said and placed his hand over Nick's to make him stop.

"Sorry, I'm just not really sure what I'm doing here," Nick said, looking around.

"We're meeting some girls…" Joe said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"No, I mean, I'm not over Miley yet. I want to be with her. I just don't think that going out with another girl is really going to help me there," Nick told Joe.

"She'll never know about it. And even if she does, you guys aren't together," Joe pointed out. "Straighten up, here they come," he said and stood up when he saw the girls walking over to their table. Nick mimicked his brother and stood up as well.

"Hello ladies," Joe said suavely as he kissed each of their hands.

"Hey," Nick said shyly. He didn't do first dates well.

"Nick, you remember Rachel, right?" Joe asked and pointed to the blonde standing next to him.

"Yeah, hey," Nick said again. Joe rolled his eyes at him.

"And this is her friend--" Joe started to say, but the girl interrupted.

"Hey, I'm Hilary," the brunette said and stuck her hand out for Nick to shake. He did so, but apprehensively and after a moment of awkwardness, they all sat down at the table.

They ordered their food and talked about a lot of things. Rachel and Hilary being in school; they were juniors. Joe and Nick being away on tour and moving to LA. After their food got there, the small talked continued, but it was minimal. As they were waiting for dessert, however, Joe and Rachel started their own conversation and it was obvious that Nick and Hilary weren't invited.

"So you're a junior, huh?" Nick asked Hilary.

"Yeah, what about you?" she asked.

"I'm actually home-schooled, but I would be a freshman," he lied. He'd really only be in 8th grade.

"That's cool; I could see myself dating a freshman," she said quickly. Nick blushed and gulped loudly. "I'm sorry, was that too forward?"

"No, umm, it's fine," Nick replied. He liked the attention he was getting from her. And she certainly wasn't too hard on the eyes. This could actually turn out to be an okay date. "So, do you have a boyfriend?"

"If I did, I wouldn't be here right now," she said, laughing a little. Nick laughed also, a bit nervously, but he was starting to loosen up.

"I guess so," he said.

"Do you have a girlfriend?" Hilary asked him. His eyes got a little wider and he started to fidget with his napkin again.

"Umm, no, not really. I just got out of a relationship," Nick told her. He hadn't been thinking about Miley for the last few minutes, but in his heart, he knew that couldn't last very long.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she said apologetically. "So, who's the lucky lady?"

"Umm, it really doesn't matter," Nick told her. He didn't want to get into this.

"Oh, come on, just tell me!" Hilary said playfully.

"You don't know her. She's from California," he told her.

"Alright," she said and dropped it. "Oh, desert!"

Their apple pies a-la-mode came and they ate them and they resumed their group conversation. While they were eating, Joe suggested an idea.

"So, what are you ladies doing for the rest of the night?" Joe asked.

"Nothing, why?" Rachel asked him.

"Oh, I was just thinking that we could catch a movie or something?" Joe suggested, looking to his brother for approval. Nick nodded slightly and Joe's eyes got that wild look in them as he turned back to the girls.

"Sure," Hilary said. "I don't see why not."

"Awesome!" Joe said, sticking another bit of pie into his mouth.

They finished their meal and left the restaurant. Joe called a cab and they all got in and headed for the movie theater. Because it was such a small theater, they didn't have much to choose from, so it was either Meet the Robinsons or a scary movie. Nick and Joe had already seen Meet the Robinsons a million times it seemed like, so they chose the scary one.

They all sat towards the back, with Joe on the right, then Rachel and Hilary, and Nick on the left. Before the movie even started, Joe had his arm around Rachel and she leaned into him during the previews. Nick was nervous, because he thought Hilary was cool, but she was way older than he was, and he was sure she was more experienced. But, 10 minutes into the movie, they had already had 2 sets of screams from the girls and Nick thought that the timing was right.

Slowly, he put his arm around the back of her chair and lowered it until it was on the back of her shoulders. She jumped a little, but realized it was Nick and eased up. She didn't lean into him, but they stayed like that for the rest of the movie.

Joe and Nick dropped the girls off at Rachel's house after the movie was over and took the cab home. Joe flopped on the couch after he walked in the door and Nick went and got a bottle of water.

"You like her?" Joe asked Nick.

"I don't know," Nick shrugged and sat down in the arm chair. "She's cool, but we're leaving," he said and paused, "and there's Miley."

"Nick, come on, she's not in the picture anymore," Joe told him and Nick gave him the stink eye.

"She's always going to be in the picture, Joe," Nick said.

"Seriously!" Joe grunted and threw his head back into the couch. "You and Kevin," he sighed, "you can't ever just get over a girl!"

"I really don't think you have any room to talk," Nick said and looked at Joe. "You say AJ broke up with you, but you know that you were the one that ended it, Joe. You pushed her too much with all of your crap and so when it was all said and done, you spent 3 days crying in your room."

"We're NOT talking about that," Joe informed Nick forcefully.

"Why not? Because you know I'm right? And because you're not over it yet?" Nick asked tauntingly.

"I'm so over it," Joe said, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Yeah, okay," Nick said and rolled his eyes.

"Whatever. I'm going to bed," Joe said and started for the stairs. Nick got up as well.

"Yeah, I guess it's time to hit the sack," Nick said. They both walked up the steps and Joe tuned the doorknob and was surprised when Nick followed him in.

"What are you doing?" Joe asked.

"Umm, in case you forgot, this is my room, too," Nick pointed out. Joe sighed. He had forgotten. He had gotten so used to having his own room, that it was a little strange to have to share one again.

"Whatever, just don't make a lot of noise. I need my beauty sleep," Joe said and pulled off his shirt and pants and put on his sleep shorts.

"Fine," Nick said as he did the same. They crawled into their separate beds and closed their eyes. After a few minutes of silence, Nick finally spoke up. "I'm sorry for what I said about you and AJ. It's really your business and I shouldn't have said anything."

"It's okay. I shouldn't have pushed you tonight. If you're not ready, than you're just not," Joe said and they again, sat in silence for a moment.

"Night, Joseph," Nick finally said.

"Night," Joe replied and they both fell asleep shortly after.

--

April 12, 2007

It was only 2 in the afternoon and Hilary had already called Nick 4 times. This girl was starting to get on his nerves, but he also kind of liked all the attention. He assumed that she had been calling in between her classes, because it seemed like every 53 minutes, almost exactly, he got a call from her that he had yet to answer.

He called her around 4 and asked her what she was doing for the night. She replied with a 'nothing' and he asked her to go out to dinner again. Normally, Nick would wait at least 3 days before taking a girl out again, but in 3 days, he'd be heading back on the road, so things needed to move a little faster.

"Hey!" she exclaimed as she walked up to the table seeing Nick sitting there. He stood up and greeted her. She ran up and hugged him, which he wasn't expecting at all. He was caught way off guard and he was almost annoyed with it, but he let it pass. They ordered their food and soon after, a group of teenagers walked into the restaurant. Hilary saw them and waved. Nick tried to cover his face as much as possible, but it _was _impossible as the group walked over to their table. It was 3 other girls, who were apparently friends with Hilary. She introduced them as Ashley, Megan, and Gina. What happened next, Nick certainly wasn't expecting.

The three of them sat down at Nick and Hilary's table. And ordered. The four girls gossiped about people Nick knew nothing about for awhile until all of their food came. As they were eating, the topic switched to Nick. They talked about how much they loved his music and how cool it was that he was on tour and on the Disney channel and stuff.

"So have you met any celebrities in LA?" Gina asked Nick.

"Umm, I guess so," Nick said and shrugged.

"Have you met Ashley Tisdale? She's like my idol!" Megan said excitedly.

"Yeah, I have," Nick informed them, annoyed by their excitement.

"Oh I love her!" Ashley said as well. "Ugh! But that Hannah Montana girl? What's her name? Miley?"

"What kind of a name is that?" Megan snorted and laughed.

"Have you met her?" Hilary asked Nick and he could feel the color drain out of his face.

"Umm, yeah, a few times. Concerts and stuff," Nick told them.

"She has such a man voice!" Gina said and they all laughed.

"And her teeth are all screwy!" Hilary added.

"And that accent? Seriously fake!" Ashley commented. Nick was getting fed up with all of this.

"She's not fake. The accent is real, and her voice is not manly," Nick defended forcefully. The girls all stopped laughing and looked at Nick.

"Does somebody have a crush on her?" Megan asked playfully.

"I've worked with her. I don't like people saying things that aren't true about people I know," Nick said, again with quite force. They all looked at him strangely, but dropped it after seeing how upset he was.

"Anyway, Nicky here is quite the gentleman," Hilary told her friends. Nick cringed when she called him Nicky.

"Oh really?" Gina cooed, looking at Nick through batted eyelashes. He tried not to roll his eyes, but lost that fight.

"Well, what are you guys doing after this?" Ashley asked.

"I was thinking we could go down to the boardwalk or something?" Hilary said suggestively, looking towards Nick.

"Actually," Nick piped up, "I kinda need to get home. Family stuff, you know."

"Oh, I didn't realize…" Hilary trailed off.

"Yeah, you know, only home for a few days," Nick said, pursing his lips together and nodding his head to nothing in particular.

"Okay, well, we could hang out after school tomorrow?" Hilary suggested. Nick cocked his head to one side and thought for a moment. Maybe it was just her friends that he didn't like. She hadn't been so bad before they got there.

"Yeah, that's fine. We'll hang out then," Nick told her. She smiled and her friends giggled.

The rest of the dinner was painful for Nick, to say the least. They continued to gossip about people he didn't know until finally it was over. Gina, Ashley, and Megan all said goodbye to Nick with huge hugs, which he was quite turned off by, and he and Hilary took a cab home. He dropped her off and then had the driver head for his own house. Tomorrow would be interesting.

--

April 13, 2007

It was about five in the afternoon and Hilary and Nick were at the park, not far from her home. She sat on an old swing and he was sitting on the bar that ran across the poles that were holding up the structure.

"Rachel told me that Joe told her that you have diabetes," Hilary blurted out after awhile of small talk. He sure knew how to find girls who were blunt.

"Uhh, yeah," Nick replied a little nervously, rubbing the back of his neck.

"I think it's really brave of you," she said sincerely, looking up at him.

"Thanks. It took a lot to get up there and tell everyone," he told her, smiling a little.

"I bet. You must have had some pretty great friends there to support you," she said.

"Yeah," Nick said, his voice trailing off as he began to think about Miley. How she wrote a song for him to be strong. How she was able to convince him that doing the charity even was the right thing to do. How she plotted with his brother to surprise him and be there for him. The way her hair looked that day. The shirt she was wearing. The smile on her face. He remembered everything, and it only made him sad.

"I'm sorry, are you okay?" Hilary asked, worried that she had upset him.

"Oh yeah, I'm fine. Just thinking about things," he told her.

"Nick, look, I know, okay?" she said. He looked at her in a state of confusion.

"You know what?" he asked her, not knowing what she knew.

"I know how much you cared about your last girlfriend. Joe mentioned it to Rachel, and of course she told me," she began and Nick's eyes got wide. "It's okay to be heartbroken you know."

"It doesn't feel okay," he replied softly and looked up at her. "I have to be honest with you."

"About what?" she asked.

"I wouldn't really be a freshman. I'd actually just be in 8th grade. I'm 14," he said anxiously, not sure what she was going to do. She laughed.

"I know," she said and he looked at her strangely. "You think I live in Wyckoff and I'm not a Jonas Brothers fan? I knew how old you were."

"And you didn't care? You're 17," he pointed out and she laughed again.

"Well, yes, but Nick, you're not just some 14 year old. I mean, you're mature, more mature than your 17 year old brother. And we're just having fun," she said and shrugged.

"Yeah, I guess," he said. "Okay, I have to be honest with you again."

"Oh what now?" she asked and they both laughed.

"Last night was ridiculous," he said and she looked at him with a confused look on her face, "with your friends?"

"Oh, yeah, I wasn't really expecting them," she told him and they laughed about the situation for a few more minutes. They sat there for awhile, staring off into their own worlds and thinking. "I should get home," Hilary finally said.

"Yeah, me too. I'll walk you," he said.

"Nah, it's alright. You house is the other way and mine is just around the corner anyway," she said, standing up and he did the same. "I've had a pretty cool last few days, Nick. Thanks."

"Hey, anytime!" he said, trying to be cool.

"Get over here, you crazy boy!" she said and hugged him. He didn't think it was weird this time, mostly because he knew they were leaving and he wasn't going to see her again. "You're a great guy, Nick," she said, pulling away, "and not too shabby for 14," she said as she ruffled his hair.

"Ha, ha, very funny," he said and lightly pushed her. "I'll see ya around," he said and waved slightly as he started to back up.

"Yeah, around," she said and looked all around her and spread her arms out as she walked backwards as well. "Tell your family I said hey."

"Will do," he said and turned around. He walked the 4 blocks back to his house, hands in his pockets and his head full of thoughts of Miley. He needed her more than he ever had known, and Hilary had shown him that. Miley hadn't just been his girlfriend or even just his best friend. She was his support system. She was everything. He just wished he could tell her that.

--

Okay, so seriously don't kill me guys! I know, I'm sorry, but I had to do it. Nick needed to get his inspiration for a song (can anyone guess which one? Haha!) and he also need a little bit of a push in the direction of Miley.

If you guys have any ideas for the story, I'd love to hear them. I do try to follow real events as much as possible, but Nick and Miley will both be in LA for almost a month and a half, so if you have any ideas for that, I'd really appreciate it.

Question time! Okay, so how many of you have JB's Burning Up Tour tickets? How many of you are Jonas Fan Club members and got the tickets through the pre-order and how many of you are Jonas Fan Club members and weren't able to get the pre-sale tickets? I'm one of those, but I still got tickets, so I'm super pumped about that!

Thanks as always guys! Remember to review! Love ya!


	23. Chapter 23

April 15, 2007

April 15, 2007

Miley sat in her bunk on the bus and looked at the picture of her and Nick that she had taped up. She started to tear up as she thought about him. She missed him, in so many ways, and she just wanted to hear his voice. But he hadn't called since the little "I love you," thing and she didn't want to bother him.

She had seen him at the Easter Egg Roll. Until she walked out onto that balcony, she had even forgotten that he was going to be there. She wanted to stay a little longer to see what would have happened, but she also didn't want to push it, so when her mom told her it was time to go, she happily obliged.

Miley was back on the road now, but she was almost done. Only 2 more tour dates and she'd be able to go home. She was ready to get back into her own bed, in her own room. She hadn't had much privacy since she had been on tour and she was ready for some quiet time.

The bus stopped and Miley wiped her face off. Braison pulled back the curtain to surprise her and tell her they were at the venue.

"Miles!" he yelled at her before he saw her face and realized she'd been crying. "What's up?" he asked, concerned.

"Nothing," Miley said in a soft voice, rubbing her face again.

"Doesn't look like nothing," Braison said and climbed up into Miley's bunk.

"I'm just ready to go home," she said and sighed. Braison reached out and grabbed her hand. She laid her head on his shoulder and took a few deep breaths.

"I think we all are," he said and patted her hand a little. "Don't be sad over him, Miles."

"Wh-what?" she asked and looked up at her younger brother.

"I'm not stupid. Nick's cool, but he's not worth this," Braison told her.

"I just want to talk to him," she said and looked down at the floor.

"Then call him," he said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"It's not that easy, Brais," Miley tried to explain, but it was useless. She started to tear up again.

"Don't you dare!" he said and pushed her up. "Now come outside with me and get some fresh air," he said as he jumped off the bunk and turned back around to pull her down.

"Fine," she said and rolled her eyes as she jumped down and laughed. "Lemme get my shoes."

Miley put on her Uggs and tucked her purple pajama bottoms into them. She threw her hair back in a quick bun and followed Braison down the steps on the bus and out into the dry Arizona air. It was a little windy, which made Miley a little chilly, until Noah came up and jumped on her back. Miley spun around and carried her around the bus a few times, acting like a horse.

"Miley!" yelled Erica, one of her dancers. Miley put Noah down and walked over to Erica and Mandy.

"What's up?" Miley asked.

"It sucks that this is like, the second to last night we'll be together!" Erica said.

"I know, but we'll hang out once we get back home," Miley said and hugged Erica and then looked at Mandy.

"Besties!" they yelled at each other and grabbed hands before hugging. Mandy and Miley had become pretty close on tour, spending a lot of time together can do that to people. Mandy was 20, but a really good friend and the age difference didn't really matter to either one of them. They loved the same things (shopping, dancing, etc.) and Miley always did act older than she was anyway, so it really wasn't an issue.

"Miley, sound check!" Tish yelled at Miley.

"Be right there!" Miley yelled back and turned back to her dancers. "I'll see you guys later! Love you!" she said and kissed each one on the cheek before running off in the direction of her mother.

--

"Could you possibly have fit any more food on your plate?" Nick asked Joe as he sat down. They had stopped for an early dinner in Georgia at a buffet, which were always Joe's favorite.

"Probably, but I didn't want to look like a pig," Joe said.

"Oh no, we wouldn't want that," Kevin said and rolled his eyes as he stuck a bite of macaroni in his mouth. Nick grabbed his piece of pizza and pretty much inhaled it. He loved home cooked meals, even if it was made in mass quantities. Garbo came and sat down next to Nick, who was sitting across from Kevin, who was sitting next to Joe.

"Do I want to sit across from him while he's eating?" Garbo asked, even though he already knew the answer to that. He'd eaten with Joe too many times to know that it wasn't a good idea.

"Probably not," Nick responded and Garbo moved to the other side of Nick. Kevin Sr. came and sat across from Joe, the only soul in the whole restaurant brave enough to do so.

"Come on guys, I'm not that messy," Joe said, a kernel of corn hanging from the corner of his lip. Nick laughed a little and went back to his food. Soon, Nick's steak arrived. He always ordered steak when they went out, even if it was at a buffet. His eyes got wide as he saw how big it was couldn't wait to dig in.

"Watch yourself, Nick. Make sure you--" Kevin Sr. started to say but Nick interrupted him.

"Adjust, I know, Dad," Nick said, slightly annoyed as he grabbed the tiny remote out of his pocket and programmed his Omnipod so it would compensate for the steak. Nick knew when he needed to adjust and add insulin now, but his parents still harped him about it. His brothers did every now and then as well, and it was hard sometimes. Nick knew how to take care of himself. He knew his family meant well, but it got hard sometimes, the way they babied him about it.

The rest of the lunch/dinner went fairly smoothly. The rest of their band joined them and everyone had a good time just hanging out and eating. Other than Joe's excitement about the peach crumble that had just came out and therefore spitting most of the food he had in his mouth back out onto his plate as he vocalized his excitement for the dessert, of course.

They all got back onto their busses and traveled to the venue, which was only a few miles away. They had an interview lined up with a local radio station at the venue and then they would do their sound check, have a meet and greet, perform, and then back on the bus they would go.

Nick had been pretty busy the last few days that they had been back on tour. He hadn't really had a chance to call Miley, although he had meant to. He wasn't sure what he was going to say to her. It wasn't him that wanted to end the relationship, so he couldn't just tell her that he wanted to get back together.

At the interview, the boys were having a pretty good time. They were all sitting on the stage and had set up a few microphones so they could talk into them.

"So, we've been though how you got started and that you are really brothers," the interviewer, Freddie, said, "how about your personal lives? Any girlfriends? All the ladies out there are dying to know."

"I'm single," Joe said quickly.

"And why's that?" Freddie asked.

"It's hard to have a relationship on the road. Too many things are going on and a lot of girls don't understand that," Joe explained.

"What about the two of you?" Freddie asked Kevin and Nick.

"Things are good for me right now," Kevin answered.

"What does that mean?" Freddie asked him.

"It means that I'm happy with how things are going. Things are working out in the relationship department," Kevin said and handed Nick the microphone.

"I'm also single," Nick answered, "like Joe said, having a relationship on the road can get pretty complicated, and it really helps when a girl can understand out hectic schedules, but that's rare."

"Looks like I got an answer out of all three of them!" Freddie said and continued with the interview. Nick, however, was distant for the rest of the time. It was rare to find someone that understood their schedules, but Miley did. Her problem was her jealousy, not the time.

The interview was over before he knew it, and they started their sound check. Nick did well, as always. That was one thing that he didn't have a problem with. He always played amazingly, no matter what was going on in his life. Music was the one thing he could turn to in his times of need and he didn't let much affect his playing ability.

The meet and greet was next. It was fairly small, since the venue was also fairly small. They loved meeting their fans, but sometimes they were tired and just wanted to get it over. But who could blame them? Crazed fans who cried when they just _saw_ the brothers could get a little old, but they loved it nonetheless. They were fortunate for the fans that they had and always tried to meet as many as possible.

The meet and greet was over and the guys went backstage to get their guitars, and Joe's tambourine, of course. They stood around back for awhile, warming up and getting pumped for the show. Joe ran around a little bit and Nick stretched out with Kevin. Their band was ready to go on and when they got the signal, they went out on stage. Now it was just the three of them. They'd be there for about five minutes, while the band made sure everything was working properly and such.

"Phones," Kevin Sr. said as he held out his hand for the boys to give him their phones. Joe and Kevin each reached in their pockets and handed them to their father. Nick did the same, and just as he was about to give it away, it vibrated, signaling he had a text message.

"Hang on," Nick said and held up a finger as he check the message. It was from Miley.

"just wanted to let u kno i was thinking bout u. have a good show," was all it said. Nick's eyes got wide and then closed tight when he was finished reading.

"Who is it?" the eldest brother asked. Nick sighed.

"Miley," he said quietly.

"Why does she do that to you?" Joe asked, a little angry.

"I don't know. Whatever," Nick said and handed his phone to his father. He was trying to ignore the fact that he had been thinking about her, too. He was trying to ignore the fact that he missed her so much. He was trying to ignore the fact that he was in love with her and couldn't even tell her that. However, he didn't have much time to think about all of that, because before he knew it, he and his brothers were up on the stage, getting ready to play.

The music took his mind off of her. He had told himself a long time ago that a girl would never get in the way of his music, and even with as much grief as Miley had caused him, he had yet to let her affect a concert and was planning to keep it that way. He played flawlessly, as always. He winked at girls when they screamed his name, and for 45 minutes he forgot about all of his problems with her.

A concert can only last so long, though, and before he knew it, he was back on the bus, laying on the couch thinking about her. He knew her tour was almost over, and that his wasn't. She was going to be sitting at home and he'd be on the road. Miley would start to get lonely and start to call Nick again, and he just wasn't ready for all of it. If she wanted to make it work, that was one thing, but she wouldn't, she would just want to talk.

Nick needed to write. He grabbed one of his guitars and started to mess around a little bit.

"Want some help?" Kevin asked and grabbed one of his guitars as well.

"Sure," Nick replied and showed Kevin what he was doing. Kevin put a nice harmony to it and before long, they had a pretty good rhythm going.

"What's up?" Joe asked, realizing that his brothers were writing. Garbo and him had been in an intense game of Gran Turismo 4 and hadn't been paying attention. Garbo didn't even have to ask, though, and he grabbed his bass and started messing around with the guys. Joe just sat there and listened, trying to get ideas for the song. Joe started to sing some random lyrics and Nick looked up at him.

"I've already got an idea," Nick told him. Joe backed off and let Nick have lyric rights. However, he noticed that Nick didn't have his notebook.

"You want me to write it down?" Joe asked and Nick nodded. Joe quickly ran to his bunk and grabbed his notebook. He brought it back to the front and sat back down, ready for Nick to start.

"I'm waiting for you right outside, the place we first locked eyes. I feel like we're both loosing sight; we don't get to do this twice. And I wonder, will you care, when I'm gone? And it's done, and I've really had enough. And I'm sorry for the trouble that's been costing us so much. Splitting apart, it's getting harder to tell what you want; so bored with these games, games," he sang as they all continued to play and Joe tried to write it down as quickly as he could.

"You been working on this before?" Kevin asked and laughed at his brother. He was talented, but couldn't belt out a perfect first verse and chorus without working on it.

"A little," Nick said and laughed a little.

"You have a second verse?" Joe asked.

"Not really, just ideas," Nick said as they all continued to play.

"Can I try?" Joe asked.

"Of course," Nick said and Joe took over the next verse. He waited until the melody for the verse came in again and started to sing.

"The last time that I left these steps, was after our first kiss. I wonder why you haven't shown; I'll be leaving here alone, and I wonder," Joe sang and looked at Nick to sing the chorus, which he did.

"Bridge!" Kevin yelled. The bridge is always the most important part of the song and Kevin's favorite part to write. "You have any ideas?" he asked Nick and he nodded and got ready to sing again.

"I'm left in the dark; I never thought you would be breaking my heart. I'm so bored with these games, games," Nick sang and looked at Kevin.

"Short," Kevin said.

"I think the chorus is long enough that it can be," Nick replied and Kevin nodded. They played through the chorus one more time and started working on perfecting it.

"New song?" Kevin Sr. asked them as he walked out of the back.

"Yup, Nick's mind is in overdrive today," Joe replied and they all laughed.

"I can tell," Kevin Sr. said and winked at Nick who smiled back. Nick was glad that he hadn't written the song by himself. He would have probably been depressed for the next few hours about it, but this way, he still got the words out but it was a fun process instead of a sad one.

They wrapped up around one in the morning and arrived at their hotel. It was the first night in awhile that they had been able to sleep in a real bed and they were enjoying it. After Joe's rampage of jumping on the bed, they all settled down. Kevin Sr. got his own room, Joe and Nick were sharing one, and Kevin and Garbo were sharing another. The rest of the band also had rooms down the hall from them. They fell asleep soon after and got a good nights sleep. All except for Nick of course. He was up thinking about Miley; wondering what she was doing and how she was. This was killing him.

--

April 18, 2007

Miley and her family walked into her house and let out a sigh of relief. They were so glad to be home. They laughed as they saw Billy Ray standing in the living room under a "Welcome Home!" banner. He had gotten home from a short tour a few days before they had and apparently had been quite bored and lonely.

"Daddy!" Noah yelled out and Miley was soon to follow as they both ran over to him and hugged him. Brandi was right behind them.

"Hey, Dad," she said as she hugged him and he kissed her forehead.

"Hey, Brais, you doin' alright, boy?" Billy Ray asked as he saw Braison slink down on the couch.

"It's the smell of testosterone. I forgot what it was like," he said breathlessly. It was then that the girls noticed the smell.

"Billy Ray, what have you done?" Tish asked him as he kissed her on the cheek and she looked at him strangely.

"I was out in the yard with the dogs earlier. I guess I just got so excited about you guys coming home that I didn't freshen up after," Billy Ray tried to explain.

"Well go and 'freshen up,' Daddy, you stink!" Noah said and plugged her nose. They all laughed at her as Billy Ray and the rest of the family went back outside to get another load of suitcases off of the bus that was parked in front of their house.

"You girls sure do know how to pack a bus," Billy Ray joked as he made his seventh and final trip from the bus to the house.

"We have to accessorize, Dad," Miley tried to explain and he laughed at her.

"You guys want to go out to eat tonight?" Billy Ray asked. They all looked at each other and mutually agreed that it wasn't a good idea.

"I'd rather just stay in," Brandi told him, "I need some of Mom's fried chicken."

"Fried chicken!" Braison cried out as if it was the greatest thing he'd ever heard before.

"Fried chicken it is, then," Tish said, "We'll have to go to the store though. I'm sure your father hasn't gone yet."

"I'll drive!" Billy Ray said and Tish grabbed Noah's hand and they walked out the door.

"Start unpacking," Tish yelled before the door shut and Brandi, Miley, and Braison all sighed. All they wanted to do was go sit down in their own rooms and relax, but they knew that wasn't going to happen. They might as well do something productive though, so they started carrying their bags up the stairs.

Awhile later, Miley had halfway finished unpacking when she laid down on her bed and started thinking about everything. About the tour, about her career, about the summer, and mostly about Nick.

"Thinkin' hard?" Trace asked her as he walked into the room and startled her. Trace had been away at the cabin for a few weeks while everyone else was gone. The cabin was a place that him and his band rented every so often so they could go and write music and not have any distractions.

"Nah, not really," Miley said unconvincingly. Trace raised an eyebrow at her and she smiled. As he sat down next to her, her eyes grew wide. "What are those?"

"These?" Trace asked and pointed to his newest lip piercings. "Hanna likes them," he told her. Hanna was his girlfriend of 2 years now. It was strange that her name was Hanna as well, but everybody could laugh about it now and then.

"Whatever. You sure are the oddball of the family," Miley joked with him as she playfully punched him in the arm.

"Hey!" he laughed and pretended to be hurt. "Glad to be home?"

"I think so," she said, looking around her room.

"It's good to have you back, kiddo," Trace said and put an arm around her.

"I hope it's going to be good for me, being back here," Miley said, sighing.

"From what I hear, you won't be having any neighbors to distract you for awhile, so you should be fine!" Trace joked with her, but she didn't think it was that funny.

"That's what I'm worried about. He's not here, and I want him to be," Miley said, trying not to get upset.

"He'll be back before you know it, Miles. You guys have something special. Go with that," Trace told her and she smiled at him. The men in her life always knew what to say to make her feel better. "Now get back to unpacking. Mom just got home with groceries and dinner will be ready before you know it."

"Fine," she said sarcastically. "Now get out!" she laughed.

"I can see when I'm not wanted," he said and started to walk out the door. "But you know you love me!"

"Whatever you want to believe, Trace," Miley said and laughed as he made a funny face at her and walked out. She went back to unpacking and before she knew it, Tish was calling her down for dinner.

It was a late dinner, since they hadn't even gotten home until after 6 that night. It was almost nine now, much later than any of them usually ate. It was the first time the whole family had eaten together in awhile, and they were all enjoying themselves quite nicely. Until Miley's phone went off, of course.

Her phone started playing music and they all rolled their eyes as she shot up from the table to go and grab it. What they didn't realize was who it was.

"Hello?" she answered cautiously and tried to sneak out of ear shot of her family.

"Hey," the other voice said.

"Umm, hi, what's up?" she asked.

"You texted me earlier?" he asked.

"I'm sorry, Nick, I shouldn't have," Miley tried to explain, but he wouldn't let her finish.

"Don't be sorry. I miss getting those messages before shows," he said sweetly. She missed him so much.

"Oh, well, how'd it go?" she asked.

"Normal. You back home yet?" Nick asked.

"Yup, we just got back a little while ago. We're eating dinner now," she told him.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Go back and eat," he said.

"No, it's fine. I'm not that hungry anyway," she lied and he laughed.

"Yeah, riiiiight," he said sarcastically.

"Whatever," she said and there was a long pause. It wasn't as awkward as it could have been, but it was awkward enough.

"So," Nick said.

"So," she said right back.

"I miss you," he said softly. She wasn't even sure if she had really heard it.

"What?" Miley asked and she heard him take in a long breath.

"I miss you," he repeated, firmer this time. "I know I shouldn't be telling you that, but I just wanted my best friend to know that I miss her," he said. Miley tried as best she could to hold back her tears, but it was useless. They started falling and when he heard her sniffle, he regretted saying anything at all. "Miley, I'm sorry, I just, I shouldn't have, and I'm sorry, please, please don't cry, Miles, stop," he said in one long run-on sentence.

"Nick, it's fine," she told him, wiping her eyes. "I'm just tired," she lied.

"I'm sorry," he said after a moment.

"Don't be," Miley told him. "I, umm, I need to go."

"Okay, and just for the record, I'm so sorry," he said again and she couldn't help but smile at how cute he was.

"It's fine," she told him once more and paused. "I miss you, too," she breathed out and she could feel him smiling on the other end of the phone.

"I'll talk to you later," he said, happier than he was just a few moments ago.

"Anytime," she replied.

"Bye, Miles," he said.

"Tootles!" she giggled out and hung up the phone. She ran into the bathroom and wiped her face off before she walked back into the dining room.

"Are we going to have to make a rule of no answering the phone during dinner again?" Billy Ray asked his family and Brandi raised an eyebrow at him.

"Dad, you're the one that broke the rule last time, remember?" Brandi said and they all laughed.

"Fine, but Miley, come on. No more calls, okay?" he asked his daughter.

"Fine," she said dramatically and sighed before stuffing her mouth full of mashed potatoes and swallowing quickly.

"I think she needed it, honey. Give her a break," Tish said to Billy Ray and smiled at Miley.

"I did," Miley replied.

--

Oh my goodness! I'm so, so, so, so, so, so sorry about not getting this posted before now. I've been so busy lately with school that it's just been insane. Finals are this week, so I won't get another one up this week, but then I'm on summer break so I'll hopefully have more time to work on this. Thank you to all of my readers who still read this and keep up with it. It makes me feel great that you care that much.

Okay, and for the question for this chapter, I'm sure all of you heard about Miley's "photo scandal" (who hasn't!) and all the hype that goes along with it. Tell me what you think about it, anything really about it. It'll be in my story later on, so anything will help a lot. Also, what do you guys think about the leaked photos of her with the green bra/new boyfriend and stuff like that?

Thanks so much guys! I love you all and it means so much to me that you all are still reading it!


	24. Chapter 24

April 25, 2007

Nick and Miley hadn't talked much since the last conversation they had. They texted a few times, but nothing more than that. They both missed each other terribly, but it was hard for either one to admit it. Nick was busy with shows and interviews and Miley was home, getting ready to film the next episode of Hannah Montana.

Today, she was hanging out at home. Mitchel was coming over because she hadn't seen him since she had gotten back from tour. She was excited, after all Mitchel was her best friend, until she met Nick that is.

Braison answered the door when Mitchel got to the house.

"Hey lil' B! What's up?" Mitchel asked as he walked in the house and ruffled the young boys hair.

"Dude! Quit! You're messin' up the 'do!" Braison said and ran a hand through his hair and laughed. "She's in her room," he told Mitchel.

"Thanks!" Mitchel said and headed towards the stairs. "Hey Mrs. C!" he yelled to Tish who was sitting in the living room.

"Hello, Mitchel. Miley's in her room," she told him with a smile.

"I heard," he replied and started up the stairs. He reached the top and yelled to Brandi from the hallway. "Hey Brands!" he said as he passed her door. She looked up and said a hello back. Mitchel passed Trace's room and noticed the blaring music and shut door. He shook his head and kept walking towards Miley's room. He knocked on the door that was closed most of the way. When she didn't respond, he knocked again and walked in.

The lights were off and she had some sort of sad music playing softly and she was tucked under her covers. Mitchel tried not to roll his eyes at her dramatics, but she couldn't help himself. He chuckled to himself and walked farther into her room.

"Miles?" he asked quietly. She stirred, but didn't sit up. Instead, she only made a soft, pained moan. "Miley?" he asked again. This sit, she turned over and looked at him. He couldn't see her well, so he turned on a lamp on her dresser. She squinted and he looked at her puffy face and tear stained cheeks. "Hey," he said softly walking over to her. He sat down on her bed and held her hand. "Come on now."

"Mitch," she whined and started crying again. She pulled the covers up over her face and sobbed while Mitchel tried to calm her down, and only succeeded after a few minutes of her unrelenting cries.

"Miley, he's coming back," Mitchel told her. She flung the covers off of her top half and sat up in bed to look at her friend.

"But it's not the same!" she whined.

"You're being dramatic," Mitchel pointed out.

"I'm so _not_ being dramatic! Why does he have to go?" Miley sighed and fell back on the bed.

"You knew this would come. You should be happy for him," he told her and she moaned again.

"I know, but I'm barely home and now he's leaving!" she told him.

"He didn't do this when you left, Miles," Mitchel said and she knew he was right. She sighed again and got out of bed.

"I know. I just, I'm really going to miss him," she said, walking over to her dresser and wiping her face, trying to get the lines of mascara to go away.

"I'm going to miss Mason too, but this is something they have to do. Trace will be back in like 3 months," Mitchel told her.

"I know," she sighed again and turned to face her friend. She gave him a big hug and let him hold her for a minute.

"You should go talk to him," he whispered in her ear and she nodded.

"Pick out a movie?" Miley suggested and Mitchel agreed and followed her out of her room. Mitchel headed to her living room and Miley headed to Trace's room. She knocked, but knew he couldn't hear her. She knocked again just in case, but walked in shortly after. The music got significantly louder as she entered and she looked around for her older brother. He was standing in front of his closet, looking in. "Trace!" she yelled and he looked over at her.

"What?" he asked, but before she could say anything, he held up a finger and walked over to his stereo and turned down the volume. "What?" he asked again.

"I'm sorry," she told him. He looked away from her and laughed coldly a little and then looked back at her.

"For what?" he asked, an eyebrow raised.

"For yelling at you earlier. You didn't get upset with me when I left. I'm sorry. I'm glad you're getting to go," she spilled out. Trace was trying his best to be tough on her, but he just couldn't. He knew she was sorry. He walked over to her and wrapped her up in a hug.

"I'm sorry, too. I should have told you before now. I just didn't know how. I knew how you'd react and I didn't want to be here when everything exploded," he told her as he rocked slowly back and forth.

"Too late," she joked and they both laughed a little. "I really am proud of you," she said and looked up at him. Trace kissed her on the top of the head and hugged her again.

"Thanks, Miles," he said softly. They stood like that for another moment, but he pulled away first. "Mitchel's here?" he asked her and she nodded. "Go watch something," Trace joked with her and watched her run out of his room and down the hall.

Miley walked into her living room to see Mitchel sitting on the couch already, the movie menu screen already up on the TV. She plopped down next to him and curled her legs up on the couch.

"Big Daddy?" Miley asked him.

"We haven't watched this in forever!" Mitchel reminded her and she shrugged her shoulders and snuggled into the couch.

Halfway into the movie, Miley was dozing off and her head was on Mitchel's shoulder. As her head jerked up for the fourth time in a row, Mitchel paused the movie and laughed softly at her.

"What?" she asked him and sat up all the way.

"You were falling asleep," he told her.

"I was not!" she pouted.

"Yes you were. Why are you so tired?" Mitchel asked as he turned to face her.

"I haven't been sleeping much," Miley told her friend while she readjusted on the couch to face him.

"Why's that?" he asked her and she sighed as she looked to the ground. "Miley?" he asked.

"I just, I don't know," she said and looked away from him.

"You're lying," he pointed out.

"Just up thinking, I guess," she told him.

"About?" he asked her, even though he already knew.

"Mitchel," she whined, wishing he would just drop the issue. No such luck.

"Miley," he drug out and looked at her suspiciously with a raised eyebrow. She grunted out a large sigh

"You know," she said.

"Would it have anything to do with a certain boy by the name of Jonas?" he asked her as she blushed. "I'll take that as a yes."

"Yeah," she said softly and thought about Nick. His curly hair, his chocolate eyes, the way his nostrils would flare up when he would talk. How he would cock his head to the side, his lips as they sang to her, and kissed her.

"I thought you guys were over," Mitchel said and interrupted her wonderful thoughts.

"We aren't dating, if that's what you mean," Miley said.

"What's going on?" he asked her, knowing something was up.

"We're, well, we're talking again, I guess. Not dating. Just friends," she cleared up.

"Like we are friends?" Mitchel asked her.

"Not really," Miley explained. "You know that we are different."

"I know, I was just kidding," he said, smiling at her. She threw a pillow at him and they laughed.

"Don't tell anyone?" she asked him, knowing that if people knew she and Nick were talking again, it would be too much for her to handle.

"Of course not, Miles," he said and put a hand on her knee to reassure her. "Do you wanna talk about it?"

"I don't know. I don't want to push him or anything, but I just want to talk to him all the time. And he doesn't get a whole lot of time to call anymore," she told him, looking at her phone.

"He'll be home soon enough. Besides, you'll be busy with Hannah stuff for awhile. That counts for something," he pointed out and she smiled at him again.

"Thanks," she said after a moment.

"For what?" he asked, slightly confused.

"Just for making me feel better. About everything," she said and smiled at him once more. It was quite infectious, and he smiled back.

"Anytime," Mitchel replied and started the movie again, hoping to finish it before he had to go home.

A few hours later, Miley walked her co-star to the door and gave him a hug.

"See you tomorrow?" he asked her and pulled away.

"Of course. I wouldn't miss it for anything," she exclaimed sarcastically.

"You don't have a choice," he deadpanned and then they both laughed.

"No kidding," she replied.

"You nervous?" Mitchel asked her. She paused for a moment and thought.

"I'm actually really looking forward to it," she responded cleverly.

"What do you have up your sleeve?" he asked her skeptically.

"You'll see, Mitchy, you'll see," Miley told him and pushed him out the door. "See you tomorrow!"

"See ya!" he said, gave her a peace sign, and walked down the steps to his brother's car.

"Tomorrow, everyone will see," Miley said softly to herself and smiled as she walked back up to her room to pack. Emily and her mom would be there soon and they would be off to the airport. Tomorrow was going to be a blast.

--

"Thank you Tulsa!" Joe yelled into the microphone and waved to the crowd one last time before the lights dimmed and the boys ran off the stage. They ran down the stairs and down into the brightly lit hallway and finally had a chance to breathe.

"Only 6 more to go," Kevin said after a moment. By now they were surrounded by their bodyguards, father, and the rest of the band.

"Off to California!" Joe shouted and pointed off into the distance. They all laughed, patted each other on the back, and headed to the busses. No interviews after the show tonight; they boys were headed home.

On the bus, Joe was making cereal, Kevin and Garbo were playing Halo, and Nick was lying on the couch, thinking of song ideas, like always. It seemed as though his mind never drifted far from music, especially right after a show.

"Are we there yet?" Joe asked comically as he shoved a spoonful of sugary cereal and milk into his mouth.

"14 hours until San Diego, Joe. Cool it," Nick said and went back to his thoughts, only to be interrupted again.

"Someone's touchy," Joe chuckled and ruffled his brother's hair who pulled out of his reach.

"Joseph," Kevin warned his younger brother and looked away from the screen momentarily. "He's in the zone."

"Fine," Joe said, mouth full again already.

Nick got up and walked to his bunk and closed the curtain. He knew that his brothers wouldn't bother him in the living area, but he needed to be alone. He needed time to think about tomorrow, and what he was going to do about it.

"No more Miley songs!" Joe yelled at his younger brother. A second later, Joe was hit in the head with a brightly colored converse tennis shoe, thrown from the direction of a very cute curly headed boy sticking his head out of the curtain with a smile on his face.

"Goodnight, Joseph," Nick chuckled and retracted his head. No more sounds came out of the bunk that night, except of course the light snoring of a teenage rock star.

--

April 26, 2007

"Miley! Let's go!" Emily shouted at her friend. Miley and Emily had met up for breakfast in Miley's room via room service, but now they were running late. They had to get to hair and makeup soon or else they would have to postpone shooting for awhile. You couldn't have the Disney Channel All-Star Games without Miley Cyrus.

That's right, they were in sunny Florida; Orlando to be exact. After arriving at the stadium and joining the rest of the crew in hair and makeup, Miley and Emily got into the swing of things. Every one was excited about finding out what team they were going to be on.

"I'm on the Red Team! What about you guys?" Ashley exclaimed as she opened up the sealed card that held her team color inside.

"Yellow," Emily replied, holding up her car.

"Green," Miley added, holding hers up as well.

"Oh boo," Ashley said and pouted. Mitchel came up behind Miley and Emily and stuck his face in between their shoulders.

"Red," he said and smiled at Ashley.

"Cool," Ashley said happily, although Miley laughed at the fakeness of it.

"Yes!" Dylan Sprouse yelled from across the room and held up his card. It was green with a star in the middle.

"He's the team captain?" Miley giggled and groaned at the same time.

"We have Brenda," Mitchel pointed out and Ashley got excited.

"I gotta go strategize, girls. See you later!" Ashley squealed and left the group.

"I've got Jason and Moises, too," Mitchel said.

"What the heck?" Emily asked and pushed Mitchel off of her playfully.

"Mitch!" Jason yelled from somewhere. "You've got to see this!"

"I'll be back, ladies," Mitchel said smoothly and jogged off to see what Jason needed.

"Whatever," Miley said and rolled her eyes.

"So you ready for today?" Emily asked her friend and co-star. Miley looked unsure.

"I guess so. I just miss him so much, Em," Miley started, but before she could get upset, Emily stopped her.

"Okay, never mind. Just let me know if you need me, okay?" Emily asked and grabbed Miley's hand. Miley squeezed it a little and smiled back.

"You know I will," Miley chucked and looked up to see everyone shuffling out of the door. "Guess it's time to go!" she said giddily and jumped a little.

"Good luck, you're gonna need it," Emily joked with her friend and they walked out into the stadium, arm in arm.

--

"Fans are awesome," Kevin said as he slapped Joe on the back, walking backstage for the opening ceremonies after greeting a throng of fans in the front few rows. The Jonas Brothers weren't participating in the games this year, but they were performing a few times. Corbin was on first for the opening performance, and then Miley was on. Nick was getting nervous about seeing her; he hadn't seen her for quite awhile.

"You cool?" Joe asked Nick as they took a seat on some unused amps on the side of the stage, unseen to the audience.

"Yeah," Nick answered, rubbing his forehead and wiping the sweat off of it. It was hot outside, but not that hot. It was only April. He was anxious.

"Just breathe," Joe told him quietly.

"I'm fine," Nick replied and looked away. Only where did he look to? Of course, the only place he shouldn't have. He could see Miley on the other side of the stage, getting her microphone hooked up. She was unaware that he could see her and was laughing with the sound guy and one of her dancers. Nick couldn't help but stare at her, in all of her grace and charm. She was flawless, at least from this view, and he wouldn't have had it any other way.

Nick didn't realize how long he had been staring until Corbin walked off the stage and Miley came on. It seemed as though she still hadn't seen him. He wasn't even sure she knew he was there, although she probably knew. He was about to find out.

Miley greeted her fans and thanked them for all coming out. The funky sounds of the "Life's What You Make It" melody started pouring out and Miley, as Hannah, started the song.

"With a new attitude," Miley belted out, barely into her first verse, "everything can change," she sang and looked directly over at Nick. He almost fell off of the amp he was sitting on. "Make it how you want it to be," she sang to him and turned back to the crowd. She finished the rest of the song without looking at him once, but his heart was still racing when she was done.

"Nick?" Kevin finally asked, after Miley had started "Nobody's Perfect". Nick snapped out of his trance and took in a deep breath.

"Sorry," Nick apologized, "I'm just tired."

"No you're not. Come on," Joe told him and pushed him lightly. Nick brushed it off with a laugh, but was hurting inside. She was so amazing when she performed. Not to mention sexy, but that was lower on the list. It always had been for Nick's view on Miley. She was beautiful no doubt, but he loved her personality more than her looks. But he couldn't exactly deny them.

The day went by fairly quickly. After "Hannah" was done, Miley changed into her game clothes with everyone else and headed down to the field for the big kickoff. Afterwards, everyone scattered around to where they were supposed to go. Not everyone from each team were competing at the same time, so some of them hung out in the shade over by the stage that was still set up.

On a rare break together, Miley and Emily sat in the sun next to the stage, tanning their legs a little. Miley was strumming her guitar as always and Emily had hers, too. Miley was helping her with some chords and showed her how to play a harmony to Miley's new melody.

"Remember, this finger has to move from here to here," Miley said and moved Emily's fingers on the strings. "Quickly, though, so it makes the right sound. And just keep going back and forth, okay?"

"Yeah, okay," Emily replied and kept playing the two chords over and over again. Miley added her melody and nodded her head to the music. Ashley, Giulia from Italy, and Isabella from Germany sat around them and listened as Miley started to sing.

Secretly, Miley knew that Nick and his brothers were just around the corner, definitely within hearing distance of the girls, and just hoped that he would hear her. Not just hear her, but listen to her. He had to.

"Looks like we found ourselves up against a wall, in need of a little help, but no one wants to call. After all we've been through, do we let our friendship end?" Miley sang and looked at Emily. A head popped up in the distance from around the other side of the stage and looked towards where the sound was coming from. Emily smiled and nodded back at Miley and she began to sing a little louder.

"You need me and I need you; no, we will not break, never break. But even if we bend," she sang out loud, a huge grin on her face.

"Where are you going?" Joe asked Nick as his brother walked in a trance like state to the other side of the stage.

"Seriously? You don't hear that?" Kevin asked and jogged to catch up with Nick. Joe stopped for a second and listening. When he heard her voice, he ran up to his brothers and waited to see what happened.

"It's you and me together. I'm always on your side. No one, no one, no one can ever change it; c'mon let 'em try. Cause it's you and me together," Miley kept singing as she saw Nick come around the corner and look at her, stopping dead in his tracks. "Now," she finished the chorus and kept playing the melody, with Emily continuing to play as well.

Nick and his brothers continued to walk over to the girls while Miley began singing again and eventually made their way over to the group and sat down, Nick off to one side of Miley.

"You'd think it'd be easier, but it feels like you just can't win. But somehow we'll make it work; 'cause we deserve it, you know we're worth it. You can't give up on friends. Cause it's you, and me, together," she finished and looked up at Nick, who was smiling at her.

"Hey, I think I see food coming!" Kevin said slightly awkwardly, wanting to get everyone away from the two young lovebirds. They all got up and walked to where the staff was setting up lunch and Emily sat her guitar next to Miley, propped up on the stage, leaving just Nick and Miley. They sat for a moment, just smiling at one another.

"Hey," he finally said.

"Hey," she replied back. They burst out laughing at their shyness around each other and were soon joking around again.

"So I guess someone has been writing songs about me again, huh?" Nick asked her and laughed, referring to the song she had just sang.

"Well aren't you vain?" she laughed and pushed his arm a little. "But can you blame me?"

"So it was a set up?" he confronted her with. She blushed and then giggled.

"Is there any other way that I work, Nicholas?" she asked and he shrugged.

"So together, huh? You and me?" he asked bluntly. He was tired of beating around the bush.

"I mean, it was just to get you attention, Nick. Come on," she said nervously.

"Oh, because I thought you were asking me out," he laughed at her anxiety about the issue.

"Oh really? And what would you have said?" Miley asked, crossing her arms across her chest.

"I might have had to say yes, but since you didn't ask," he trailed off and her eyes got wide.

"Seriously, Nick?" she asked excitedly.

"Seriously Miley," he replied, grabbing her index and middle finger and holding onto them. He didn't want to draw too much attention onto them by grabbing her hand, so he had to settle for this. "I've been a freaking wreck for the last month. I never knew that 20 days could be so long."

"You counted?" she asked him.

"I don't know, Miley. It had been rough before all of that, too, so I don't know when to count from," he said and looked her in the eye. "I just miss you."

"I miss you, too, Nick," she said with a tear in her eye and placed a hand on his knee, wanting to hug him, but again, trying to keep everything quiet.

"So what does all of this mean?" she asked him, hoping for the best.

"Well if you _were _asking me out, then," he began to say.

"Yes, that's what it was," she shouted at him and they laughed.

"Then I guess we're good," he said and smiled at her.

"We're good," she repeated and smiled back.

"Let's go eat," Nick finally said and stood up, brushing off his pants and extending his arm to pull her up. She bounced right up and dusted herself off as well and they walked over to the group of Disney stars that were already stuffing their faces with lunch meat sandwiches, carrots, and celery.

Nick and Miley each filled up a plate and headed over to where Emily and his brothers were, off to the side. They sat down at the picnic table next to each other and Emily and across from Joe and Kevin.

"Sooooo?" Joe asked and looked from Nick to Miley and back to Nick.

"Joe, you're so rude. Eat," Kevin commanded and Joe took a bite of his potato salad. Nick just smiled at his brothers and winked at them, letting them know that things were okay. Miley looked over at Emily as she pretended to be very interested in her salad, but smiled widely at her friend and silently squealed her excitement out.

Things were finally back to normal, or as normal as they possibly could be for the youngest brother in the hottest band with the fastest growing fan base and _the_ teen pop star with the highest rated show in the country. Things would never be normal for the two of them, but they were together again, and things were finally falling into place. Everything was going to be fine.

--

You guys, I am SOOOO sorry for the long awaited update. I have been out of town for the last few weeks for family stuff and I just haven't gotten much of a chance to write anything, but I really have a lot of inspiration coming up for the next few chapters, so be prepared. I'll get the next one up ASAP, I swear! And thank you all so much for sticking with me. I know it can't be easy waiting, so thank you, thank you, thank you!! I love you all!

Okay, so the question for this chapter is pretty easy. How excited are all of you for CAMP ROCK?? I'm stoked and I can't wait! Are any of you having parties with your friends for the premiere or are you going to watch it by yourself? I'm 20 and I'm making my friends come over and watch it with me, haha.

Anyway, thanks so much for reading guys! I didn't proof read this before I posted because I wanted to get it up as soon as I could, so I'm sorry for any mistakes. Remember to review, please! I need some input from you guys! Love ya!


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